Swan's mate for life
by Mrstrentreznor
Summary: Leah and Bella healed their broken hearts together. They are happy together, but Bella is curious about men. Paul agrees to help out, but things get complicated. What happens when their boy toy won't stay in the box? They can't go back, but can they go forward? Can they all fight for what they need? Poly, NM, AU, Bella, Leah, Paul
1. Chapter 1

Soily's challenge:

My friend www. fanfiction u/1019039/notashamedtobe challenged me with the following:

"_If you're up for challenges and we know you can more than handle slash, do a Bella/Leah fic. Let them heal one another's broken hearts."_

I fear that I got a little carried away with the healing and forgot the slash. Lol

She writes a great Jake. You should read her stuff if you haven't already; but she is very M. Don't say I didn't warn you…

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Swan's mate for life.

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

**[AN: No, I meant that apostrophe. Swans do mate for life, but I meant the mate of Swan… too clever? Set in my usual New Moon world of my dreams where Edward leaves and doesn't come back.]**

Bella Swan spent a lot of time at the rez these days. Time with Jake and his friends, Embry and Quil. She had finally snapped out of her zombie state to find most of her school friends frustrated with her. She had alienated almost everyone, except Angela Weber. But Angela was busy with Ben a lot and Bella felt like the third wheel if she went out with them.

So the rez it was. She was too fragile to even attempt to make new friends. That shit was hard. You had to be confident and chatty and animated. And you couldn't let a rebuff knock you off your metaphorical feet. And she was none of that anymore, if she ever had been.

She ate fish fry with the Blacks and her dad. She convinced Jake that she didn't feel about him like _that_. He understood her in his usual Jake way, even if she couldn't seem to get the actual words out. He backed off a little and let Quil and Embry invite themselves over.

She rebuffed Quil, too. Embry never tried. She watched the boys surf in the almost freezing water, huddled under a blanket on the beach. She watched them rebuild unidentified machines in Jake's garage. Jake was the engine whisperer, but Quil and Embry could hold their own with bikes. Jake could build anything. She watched the three friends together and envied them their easy friendship.

She knew about the werewolves. She had guessed. Her dream mind had filled in her conscious mind's gaps, with dreams of a large black wolf and her friend Jake, morphing into a large reddish one.

That growth spurt they all underwent was not normal. But the big giveaway was Seth Clearwater. He was a crazy size for a fifteen year old boy. Crazy. And his super angry sister frightened her.

"Leah?" Jacob laughed. "She's fine."

"Fine for you, when you tower over everybody, but I'm not that big and she's way bigger than me," Bella blustered.

"Shit, don't let her hear you say that," Quil added.

"What? Why?" Bella squeaked nervously.

Embry piped up, "She's a little…" he frowned as if he was looking for a word. "…sensitive," he finally said, "…about her size."

"And her muscles," added Quil.

"Muscles?" Bella repeated.

"Jeez, yeah… haven't you seen 'em?" Quil looked amazed. Given he was a pile of muscle himself of late; Bella was a little unsure exactly _how_ muscular Leah looked these days. She always remembered her as strikingly beautiful.

And not muscular at all.

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School was a nightmare. Bella just tried to keep her head down and survive. It crossed her mind to wonder why, out of all the life experiences the Cullens could choose to repeat, why on earth they would choose High School. Who would want to keep repeating that? Really, that should have been her first clue that the Cullens were not normal; even for vampires. Especially for vampires?

"Hey, Arizona!" Mike Newton called, breaking into her reverie.

She looked at him. It took her a second to get her brain back to wherever she physically was. No wonder she fell over all the time.

He was beaming at her with his usual indefatigable smile. Oh please god, he wasn't going to ask her on another date. Did he have a disorder or something? Persistent date myopia? With any woman that Mike thought was a potential date; he seemed to have a sort of blindness and deafness. He didn't hear them say 'no thanks' and he didn't see the looks that crossed their face when he spoke to them. Just as well really; maybe it was a kind of self-defence?

"Bella?" Mike repeated.

"Sorry Mike," she blustered.

"I just wanted to check that you are still working Saturday morning shift?"

She almost exhaled in relief. "Yes, yes, I am." She smiled at him.

He brightened considerably. "Cool! I'll see you then!"

She made her way to her battered truck and headed for her home.

She drove into her driveway and there was a figure stalking up and down on her porch. She blinked.

Leah Clearwater.

She wondered what she was doing at her house. Wolf business, she assumed. Leah looked tense and angry. She got out of her truck and slammed the door. "Leah! Hello!" she greeted her.

"Swan," she barked.

Bella guessed that was 'hello' in Leah language.

"What are you-"

"Jacob," she interrupted, barking out the word.

Bella just waited for a fuller explanation. She stepped up onto the porch and unlocked the front door. Leah followed her inside; looking around as she did so and sniffing deeply.

Bella sighed. Definitely wolf business.

"Your house reeks of leech."

"I did go out with him; he was here a bit."

"Uh, huh." Leah looked at her like she was partially insane.

Bella waved a hand and thought about trying to explain why Edward was attractive and then she gave up. She wasn't sure she could remember herself anymore. And no matter what she said, she didn't think Leah, of all people, would understand. She was so pretty, she must be able to have any man she wanted. Bella wondered what that would be like.

She gave up waiting for Leah to explain and thought she would just ask. "What's happening? Why are you here?"

"Nomads."

"Again?" Her heart raced at the thought of another James.

Leah frowned at her.

She waved a hand nervously in front of her face. "Ah… I… had…" she stopped.

Leah waited.

"Before," Bella explained, badly.

"Before what?"

"I-I had a run in with nomads… before… you phased, I suppose." She looked at her. "Maybe you didn't know…"

"You have **never** told Jacob that."

"What? I have. I'm sure I have."

Leah just shook her head. She looked so certain.

"How would you know?" Bella pressed.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Christ! He replays every damn word you ever say to him. If those words had been 'nomad', 'vampire' or…" she waited.

Bella added, " 'Hunt', 'kidnap', 'bite'…"

"**Bite?" **Leah repeated.

"Oh… yeah. You're right. I haven't told Jake all the details."

"I'm sorry; I'm still stuck on the bite part. Shouldn't you be a vamp then?" Leah tilted her head and waited for Bella's response.

Bella held her arm out to her and pulled up her sleeve to expose the shiny, crescent marks on her wrist. "Bite," she repeated.

Leah actually shivered. Her whole body tensed. "**Again**… why are you not a leech?"

"Edward." She gave a whole body movement of her own. But hers was more of a shudder. "H-He sucked the venom out."

Leah gave a grunt noise. It sounded a tiny bit positive. "Why didn't he let you change?"

"He liked me human."

"Huh," she grunted. "Or he wanted to do it himself?"

"Yeah… that, too."

"Typical. Men."

And Bella laughed. Leah looked at her differently after that.

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The nomads proved pesky. Jake kept assigning wolves to watch her. The boys were very wary of her; didn't want to get too close. They knew how Jake felt about her. But Leah? She just invited herself right inside the house and threw herself down on the sofa. The boys patrolled outside.

"Tell me again why I can't go out to La Push?" Bella whined.

"Fucked if I know. Strategy." She shrugged. "Jake and Sam crap."

Bella frowned. "How?"

"Hey," Leah argued. "I said it doesn't make sense to me."

"No, you didn't. You said you didn't know," Bella argued.

Leah grunted something at her.

"Fine," Bella said. She stomped into the kitchen. Leah followed her. She watched as she went straight to the phone and punched in a number.

"Billy. Is Jake there?... Would you tell him I need to speak to him?... I'll wait."

She tapped her foot on the kitchen floor, while she did so.

Leah hoisted herself up and sat on the kitchen counter.

"Jake."

'_Hey, Bells.'_

"I need to go out to La Push today."

'_Why?'_

"I'm going to Leah's house."

Leah gave a startled movement.

'_Leah's?' _Jake sounded as surprised as Leah looked.

"Yeah… you know. Girl stuff." Bella winked at her.

'_With Leah?'_

Leah's eyes narrowed.

"Well, of course," Bella sounded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You have no objections?"

'_Well, I suppose… as long as you are with Leah.'_

"Yes. She's pack and she'll keep me safe." She smiled at Leah.

She packed a pile of leftovers and half a chocolate cake she had made earlier in the day. Leah cracked the lid on the container and sniffed. She made a grudging noise of approval. "Smells good, Swan."

The drove out to the rez in Bella's old faithful truck. Seth was there. They made coffee and ate cake and laughed at the Clearwater kitchen table. They were listening to the radio and Seth kept telling stories about Leah and the Black twins and their attempt to be famous singers. He did squealing imitations of his sister singing. Bella laughed more than she had in weeks.

When the phone rang, both Clearwaters tensed. Seth got to it first.

Bella could hear Sam's deep voice, but not discern the words. Seth nodded. Leah looked tense around the mouth. "You have to stay here," she pre-empted before Seth had hung up.

"Oh. Okay. Trouble?"

"Yeah."

"I have to go," Seth added. He looked pained.

"I know," Leah huffed. She met Bella's eyes. "Sam likes to keep me out of trouble." She rose to her feet and punched Seth in the top of the shoulder. "He thinks I can't look after myself, when I can take this runt down."

"Sure, sure," Seth agreed.

Bella impulsively hugged Seth before he beat a hasty retreat.

The two women were left alone.

"So what do we do now?" Bella asked. "Braid our hair?" She stopped suddenly, aware that Leah's beautiful hair had been cut short once she phased.

"I vote for getting drunk," Leah suggested. She shrugged. "I can still braid your hair if you like."

"Great, I don't know how. I've never done it, actually," she confessed.

Leah just nodded as if Bella's lifetime of no real girlfriends was that obvious. "The twins," she said by way of explanation.

They moved to the living room. Leah got a full bottle of tequila from her bedroom closet. She also came armed with hairbrushes. She dropped them next to Bella on the sofa. "I barely use these anymore."

"Such a pity. You had nice hair."

Leah snorted and passed her the bottle.

She took a swig and nearly gagged. She managed to swallow, rather than spit it all over the floor. Her face must have expressed her horror at the taste.

Leah just laughed at her. She made Bella sit on the floor with her back against the edge of the couch. She combed her hair and brushed it until it shone. Bella closed her eyes and felt at peace. She kept taking tiny sips from the bottle. Leah took larger mouthfuls. She decided that getting her hair brushed was lovely. She felt little tingles along her skin, like goose bumps.

Leah passed her the bottle to hold. She started to carefully divide her hair up. "Jake's good at this," she commented. "You should ask him to do it for you one day."

"No, thanks. He'd get the wrong idea."

"Uh-huh." A pause. "You don't like him?"

"I love Jake. Just not like that."

"Right. Does he know that?"

"I think so. I've told him."

"Doesn't mean he understands."

Bella giggled. "No." She felt brave; alcohol induced, probably. "What about Sam?"

"What about him?" Her hands stilled in Bella's hair.

"He doesn't understand either, huh?"

"No. He doesn't," Leah agreed. "Give me that bottle."

Bella couldn't turn her head, but she passed it back to her, Leah was holding her hair tightly. "It wasn't his fault," she ventured.

"I know that. Doesn't help. Wasn't Emily's fault either." She heard her take a swig. "It's still a clusterfuck."

"I'm sorry."

"Not _your_ fault, either."

"Isn't it? I dated a Cullen."

"Yeah but you didn't make them come here. They'd been here for years before you showed up. Came back for some reason. Happy memories of signing the treaty?" She laughed; her usual bitter chuckle. She patted Bella's head. "Thanks anyway."

For just a second Bella felt like Leah's friend. It was a nice feeling. She hugged her leg where it pressed at her side.

Then Paul crashed into their peace. "Jeez, are you two supposed to be sucking down the tequila?"

"Shut up, Paul," they chorused. Then giggled.

"Leah is braiding my hair," Bella said seriously.

He nodded. "Uh-huh. Looks nice." He grinned mischievously.

"What do you want?" Leah asked him.

"Can I have a drink?" he asked Bella.

"NO. Boy germs," said Bella. She took a large mouthful and passed it to Leah, who drained the bottle.

Paul snorted. "Stay," he commanded.

"Fuck you," Leah said.

"You wanna?" he asked, with a leer.

"Shut up, Paul," the girls chorused again.

"No really," Paul expanded. "Sam-"

"Says 'stay'," Leah finished. "We get it."

"Charlie. I forgot Charlie," Bella blurted out. "Do I have to stay all night?"

"Yep," Paul confirmed.

"Hang on," Leah ordered, when Bella tried to get to her feet. She finished her hair and tied it off. Paul gave her a hand up. He watched her wobble towards the phone.

"She's funny when she's drunk," he noted.

"What's really happening?" Leah asked him. She shifted to sit on the floor and stretched her legs out straight.

He crouched down to talk to her quietly. "Sam and Jake have a plan." He nodded at Bella. "It's good that she's here, because they seem to be after her."

"Does she know that?"

"I don't think so. Something weird about her scent. One down, one to go." He looked at Leah's face. "You look after her and I'll look after baby brother. Okay?"

Leah nodded. "Thanks, Paul."

"I can't get onto Charlie," Bella called out.

"Send him a text," Paul advised. "Then you won't sound drunk."

Bella laughed. "Yeah… hahaha… drunk." She sounded **very** drunk.

Paul grinned. "Gotta go. Have fun ladies."

"He's notsho bad," Bella said, after he had left.

Leah was texting Charlie for her. She just looked at her. "You think?"

"He's kind of…" She frowned as she tried to think of the word. "Dangeroush."

Leah snorted. "To women? Yep. If Paul doesn't try it on, you know you're not feminine."

"I think you're femineminee… hee hee. Thatsh hard to say." She sat down in a whoosh when her legs folded up under her. She fell over onto her hands and crawled towards Leah. She studied Leah's face. She was too close. "And you have beoootiful eyelashes."

"You're drunk, Swan."

"And you're pretty, Clearwater." She kissed Leah quickly. A dry press of lips.

Leah blinked at her with those beautiful eyelashes.

"I'm going to sleep now," Bella announced and then fell over unconscious.

Leah looked at her in disbelief. "Yep. Definitely funny when she's drunk."

She sat quietly and watched Bella slumber. She twitched and muttered about cold. Leah covered her with a blanket. She threw a cushion down and slipped it under Bella's head. The next hour she let out a tiny wail. "Lost," she said in her sleep.

Leah reached out and brushed Bella's forehead with her hand. Her agitation lessened. Her breathing shifted to a deeper pattern. Whenever Leah lifted her hand, it didn't take her long to start twitching again.

Leah's high metabolism had already burnt through her alcohol and she just felt tired. She ended up lying next to Bella on the floor. She rationalised that it was just to get some sleep.

Seth came home just before dawn. He didn't make it to his bed. He sat down to look at them, asleep together on the floor. Leah was spooning Bella.

Leah opened an eye and looked at him. "Hey," she muttered. "Done?"

"Yep." He stood and did a turn so that she could see he was unharmed. She made a grunt noise of acceptance. He lay down on the floor behind Bella. "You're safe now," he told them both.

He closed his eyes, just for a minute and fell asleep.

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When Bella woke up on the floor with both Clearwaters, she didn't think anything of it. She also had the worst hangover. She had a vague memory of being warm and safe for the first time in months. She had actually slept pretty well.

Sam came over when she was chewing down some dry toast. He looked serious, as always. She noticed how his eyes strayed to Leah and how Leah kept staring solidly at the floor. "Danger's past," he told her. "For the moment. You tell us if you see anything weird."

"Sure," she agreed. Jake came over to escort her home. She hugged Leah goodbye. Leah's hand brushed down her braided hair. Bella hugged her a tiny bit harder. "I'm sorry about Sam," she whispered.

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Then there started a very delicate seduction. Not that either actually thought about it like that. Leah and Bella spent a little more time together. Bella came out to the rez to see Jake and would just wander off to be with Leah. Jake thought she was bored with watching them fix motorbikes.

Sue found her more often at her dinner table. That actually worked for Charlie too. He started coming out to pick her up. It was a good excuse to talk to Sue. Both were pleased that their daughters who had both been so alone recently, had found a friend.

Leah or Seth would drop her truck back the next day. Leah would leave her something on the dash; a polished stone from the beach, a sprig of cedar or a wildflower. Bella would pick them up and smile.

Seth watched carefully and said nothing to anyone.

Bella asked Leah to her house. She started trying to teach her to cook. Leah laughed and said if Bella was around, she didn't need to learn. They had slumber parties in the living room.

One night, Charlie got called out and didn't come back. Bella started to talk about herself. She said she was always too cold at night. She found herself, for the first time, talking about the negative things about Edward. It was as if she needed the time away from him to recognise them as issues. Bella tried to explain it, almost as if she was talking it out of her system.

Leah listened and didn't judge. She just _listened_. Even when Bella admitted he was in her room every night; without Charlie's knowledge. That made Leah shudder. Bella held her hand.

"I needed two quilts just to have a cuddle session," Bella whined. "It was like hugging a statue, he was so cold." They were supposed to be watching a movie, but they had both lost track of the story ages ago. They were sitting with their heads together and their bodies pressed together along their sides. "You're always so warm," Bella said. She rubbed her fingers on the back of Leah's hand.

Leah opened her hand out flat and looked at their two hands held over each other; one dark and one light. One with nervous bitten-down nails and the other with nails damaged from her lifestyle in the wilderness.

"We need a manicure," Bella suggested with a laugh.

"We do not," defended Leah. "We are fine, the way we are."

There was an awkward silence.

"You said I was pretty," Leah ventured.

"I remember," Bella whispered.

Leah shifted to give her a look. "You do?"

Bella bit her lip and nodded jerkily.

"Huh." Leah reached out and touched Bella's face. Her fingers touched her cheek and her thumb gently pushed her bottom lip down and released it from the grip of her teeth. "Don't do that," she said. "You have such pretty lips."

Bella looked at her with big, dark eyes. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

And then Leah kissed her.

Leah was everything Edward wasn't; warm and soft and female. And Bella told her she was beautiful; her skin felt fabulous and she thought she was not pretty but absolutely gorgeous. She trailed her fingers over the muscles on her body and told her she loved the fact that Leah was so strong.

Leah told Bella she was stronger than she thought she was; she had survived vampires and she could do anything she wanted to. She kissed the bite mark on her wrist. They both needed the affirmation and they discovered that they needed each other. They were friends and now they became lovers.

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Poor Charlie blushed like a tomato when they stood, holding hands and announced to him that they were dating. Sue was surprised, but handled it a little better than Charlie had.

Sam had a crisis. He had turned Leah Clearwater into a lesbian. Quil and Embry overheard his worries on patrol. Quil laughed so hard, he almost ruptured something. Embry just shook his head and told Sam in his quiet way that it was actually nothing to do with him and entirely about Bella. Emily got truly annoyed with Sam when he wouldn't get over it and he finally let it go after Jared told him to get his shit together and worry about his imprint, not his ex.

Jake looked confused as to when all this had happened.

Paul got a dreamy smile on his face, adjusted himself in his trousers and made it his new aim to either watch them together or be invited into their bed. Bella slapped him the first time he actually suggested it. She hurt her hand. Leah kissed it better for her. Paul made a wounded noise because she did it in front of him.

Seth just smiled.

FF_2154210_1514497633 - 24/01/2012 9:50:00 AM


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**Usual garbled author notes:**

My muse is wilful; you know the thing that makes me write certain things or not, as the case may be? I promised everyone I would finish the extension of 'I'll be home for Christmas' and I have done a lot of work on that one - over 30k words. But the story that kept coming to the front of my head was this one. It isn't finished yet, and normally I don't post on fanfic until the story is complete, but it seems to be growing hugely and I don't want you all to have to wait another two months for me to finish it. Especially as you all leapt on my last one shot like a pack of starving wolverines.

I have done 31 chapters and 100k words so far, so I can give you those, and keep writing like a crazy person to stay ahead OR you could go without?

Yeah. I knew you'd pick that option. If I catch up to myself there might not be daily postings, that's all.

This is another extension of a one shot. I have never written femslash before and I have read one, that I beta'ed for feebes, but I am going to give it a go. And if it is awful… well, there will be Paul compensation.

I know some people were pleased to see a femslash story from me, and by making it into a threesome, I am not implying that women 'need' men, I just suspect that Leah might as a she-wolf. But I can say that it is majorly angsty. (And you all thought 'Hurt' was bad?!)

So, fair warning, this will be a mostly Leah and a whole lot of Paul story - I think… it's still not finished yet. But it is also **me**, so they should have a HEA.

Trust me… would I lead you astray? *mwahaha*

* * *

Bella finished high school. She and Leah skipped the prom; it really wasn't either of their styles. Charlie and Sue took them to lunch at the Lodge after the graduation ceremony in June. Renee cancelled her trip to Forks because Phil had broken his leg sliding into home base.

Bella sat there thinking about how far she had come. Her acceptance letters to the University of Alaska had been left uncompleted and not returned. Bella wasn't sure what she wanted to do for the next year, given she now actually had a future. It was a heady feeling. Charlie frowned and lectured her about expectations, but she got the idea that he liked having her around for a little longer. She kept telling him that she would sort it out next year. She was nineteen and she had her whole life ahead of her. She wasn't intent on killing herself for her High School boyfriend anymore; not that she told Charlie that. Sometimes she looked back at that period of her life and didn't recognize herself. Now, she dated a twenty year old.

Definitely more her own age group. Even if she was a girl, she was beautiful. She beamed at her across the table and Leah winked back at her.

Charlie had agreed to her moving in with Leah after she graduated. She was ready to go, now. In fact, she was already packed. The last few things were in her truck. This was not only a graduation lunch, but a kind of a farewell, too.

Leah got a land allowance from the tribe as a wolf pack member. Most of them were too young to need it yet and still lived with their parents. Except for Sam and Emily. They had a place of their own and Emily was expecting a baby. Everyone was pleased for them, even Leah. Sam was determined _not_ to be his father. Nobody really thought he would be, so the **only** person who was worried about it was Sam, but they all understood. Jared and Kim had recently applied for one. They wanted to be in it as soon as Jared turned eighteen.

For her land allowance, Leah asked the council for a small block with an older house on it. It hadn't been occupied for a while and didn't suit a family; there just weren't enough rooms for a start. She had checked it out a couple of times and it seemed solid enough. The roof didn't leak and most of the damage inside was from a broken window that hadn't been repaired. It had let through some leaves and some water marks stained the floor where the rain had come in. But she thought it was easily fixed up.

Leah was so uncharacteristically nervous when she took Bella out to look at it. It was tiny; like all the rez houses. It had one bedroom, a bathroom, and a larger room that served for everything else; kitchen, lounge, and dining. The laundry was outside; built up against the side of the house.

"It will need a bit of work," Bella said, carefully. "A lot of renovation."

"I know. But it has good bones and it's a wonder what a coat of paint will do."

"We'll have to save our money and do things ourselves to save costs."

"The pack will help."

Bella was standing on the tiny little porch staring off into the distance. She tilted her head and listened to the sea in the background.

Leah reached down and clutched her hand. "Do you like it?" she asked hesitantly.

Bella squeezed her hand. "It's absolutely beautiful, Leah."

"Oh, thank God." Leah hugged her. "I thought you hated it."

"Why would I hate it? It's _**ours**_."

"Yeah. It is. If we want it." She studied Bella's face. "Do you want it?"

"Yes, please, Leah."

* * *

The girls renovated their little cabin. They were thrilled to make it together. Painting and decorating and arguing over which pieces of furniture went where. Leah brought over her bed from the Clearwater house. Mostly Leah let Bella win. It didn't worry her and for Bella, it was the first real place of her own. Renee had always set up their house (she had very definite ideas about decorating) and Charlie's place was his when she moved in. So she loved to have her own ideas and see them work out.

The tiling in the bathroom was well done but was a garish, old fashioned color. Bella found some tile paint that could just be painted over the top. She chose blue and white. It looked like new when she had finished and she was very proud of herself.

They collected battered furniture from family and made a home. They didn't own a TV and it didn't take long for Bella's small bookcase to overflow with mass produced paperbacks and recipe books. Now it was all finished, and right after the graduation lunch, the girls would move in together.

That night after some last minute unpacking, they were in bed together. Bella had got paint in her hair from the tile paint. Leah scraped it out for her with her fingernails. It was much harder than normal paint to remove.

"I'll cut it all off," Bella proposed. Then she stifled a yawn.

"No. Please don't," Leah argued. "I love your hair."

"Yeah?"

"I love the way it feels like silk across my skin." She wound it around her hand. "How the strands catch on my nipples when you kiss me."

"Gah," said Bella. "I love your nipples. I have no chest at all." She puffed up her chest and looked down at herself. "Look at it. I'm as flat as a boy."

"You are not," argued Leah.

"Pfft. I can't compare to you." Bella reached out and cupped one of Leah's breasts in her hand. "These… are magnificent."

"I love the way you touch me," Leah breathed. She thought that Bella almost worshipped her body. It made her feel like a god. She said it to her once and Bella argued that she wasn't a god; she was an Amazon. Leah had to go look it up. She found that Amazons were a nation of all-female warriors from Greek mythology.

"I am not an Amazon."

"You are!" argued Bella. "Look at you! You are the quintessential warrior woman. You hold your own with that pack of men. I admire you for that."

"Okay… I'm an Amazon." Leah laughed.

"On one condition," added Bella.

"What?"

She grabbed her breast in her hand. "Don't ever cut these off."

"I thought they only cut off one. Got in the way of the bowstring, didn't it? I know how that feels, when they get in the way."

"Whatever. Just don't cut either of them off. I need them."

"Need them, huh? I doubt that," Leah joked.

"Okay, fine. I love them." Bella brushed her thumb across Leah's nipple and watched it tighten.

Leah watched her face. "Hey, beautiful."

Bella looked at her and blinked. "I'm not beautiful," she argued.

"Of course you are. I can do research too, you know." Leah shifted her body on the bed and moved her face closer to Bella's. "And I know that 'bella' in Italian means beautiful." She kissed her gently. "Beautiful girl with a beautiful name."

"Leah," Bella breathed. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know. I'll have to look it up. But right now, I have other things that I want to do." Her arms reached around Bella's body and lifted her; laying her down on her back on the sheets.

Bella smiled up at her. "Kiss me."

Leah did and then she kissed down the edge of her jaw to her neck. She held her firmly at the back of her head and she feasted on Bella's neck until she writhed under her. Her other hand slid under Bella's thigh and lifted her a little. Bella moaned and pushed her hips against Leah's body. Her own hands were stroking her wherever she could reach. Leah's warm fingers worked their way between her legs. She was already wet. Leah stroked her expertly, sliding her fingers inside Bella when she knew she needed more. Bella made breathless, panting noises and when her neck arched back, Leah moved back to stroke her clitoris. She watched her lover orgasm, capturing her cry with her lips. She kissed her hard as she jolted under her.

They lay together, getting their breath back.

"Your turn," said Bella.

"Not tonight. You're tired. You've had a big day, graduating and all." She kissed her gently. "Sleep now, beautiful."

* * *

Leah wanted to get a job. A real job. She also wanted to get away from the pack boys. She spent more than enough time with them. And in their heads, too. She didn't need her rare human hours spent with them as well. It didn't seem to worry them. The ones who had ditched school worked for Sam. He had a small construction business started. Erratic hours could be dealt with, as long as the job was finished on time. His biggest problem was trying to remember **not** to give crazily short estimates of time to complete a job.

Leah ended up getting a job as the driveway attendant at the gas station. She wore her usual attire of incredibly short shorts, a tight tank top and a battered pair of old runners. And seemed blissfully unaware of the guys who came in every couple of days for fuel or a quart of oil.

Bella just laughed that she had exchanged one group of men for another, but Leah argued that it was different. They weren't in her head, for a start.

Bella wanted to get a job, too. She still did some hours at Newtons. They had enough income to cover their expenses. She had picked up Mike's shifts as well because he had gone to college. Leah worried about that. All of Bella's friends had gone to college. Leah thought she was holding Bella back. Bella insisted that she wasn't. That she could do distance education if she wanted or something on-line one day. Right now she was happy.

They were both happy.

Jake came over to see her. He used checking her oil as an excuse. He was still the only one who could keep her old truck running.

"So," he started. "Leah, huh?"

"Yes." She looked at him warily. She loved Jake, but she had never loved him in the romantic way he had always seemed to hope she would.

Jake nodded.

"So are you dating?" she asked carefully.

Jake looked serious. "No."

"You should. You're a pretty good catch, Jacob Black."

He opened his mouth as if he was going to make a comment and then didn't. She could guess what it would be. Not good enough for her or something like that. He shook his head a little and then he said, "Embry and Quil keep trying to get me to date."

"You three do everything together," she joked. "May as well date together, too."

Jake smiled. "Yeah. I suppose we do."

He worked on the truck silently for a little while.

"But you're happy," he said.

It wasn't a question, but she answered it anyway, "Yes, I am happy."

He hesitated when he went to hug her goodbye.

"Leah won't mind," she assured him.

"No, that wasn't it." Then he laughed at himself.

"You're still you, Jake." That didn't explain it any better, really. "And I'm still me and you are still my best friend."

"Okay, Bells." He hugged her properly then; a real Jake rib crusher. She felt him press his face to her shoulder. Just a feather light touch.

* * *

She and Leah slept naked in a tangle of limbs and hair.

Bella usually started the evening with her thighs wrapped around Leah's head. She couldn't decide what was her favorite Leah body part. The eyelashes, the breasts or Leah's tongue. She loved Leah's tongue. She could slash a pack member with a well-aimed barb in about the same amount of time as it took her to bring Bella to her knees as well. And when she growled into her? Ooh, that hit the spot.

Of course, she got her eyes then, too. They would peer up Bella's body to her face, taking note of every quiver, shudder and moan. Blinking slowly in her own ecstasy. Leah said Bella tasted like honey.

Bella thought Leah tasted musky and spicy. Impossible to describe but she'd know that taste anywhere. She caught herself one day, tossing the clothes in the washing machine. Before she had really thought about it, she had Leah's panties held to her face.

She inhaled deeply. Yes. That was it. Just a hint of musk. Her earthy Leah.

Little did she know that she fueled Quil's spank bank for weeks with that image. The laundry was outside in an old shed. Not functional for winter but they had to add it to the list of big ticket renovation items. He had seen her from the forest in wolf form.

_It wasn't the actual sniffing, _Quil tried to explain to Embry on patrol later. _It was the look on her face as she did it. Embry, I swear, Bella was creaming her jeans right then._

_You are a sick, sick man Quil._

_Oh, come on, Em. What about Paul?_

_What about him?_

_He is seriously smitten by those two._

_Smitten? Maybe, Quil. But I don't see him hanging in the forest near their house to get erotic laundry glimpses of Bella._

_But the look on her face!_

_Yeah, yeah Quil. Enough!_

_Erotic laundry glimpses, _Quil repeated.

_Fuck's sake, Quil. Give it up!_

_Jeez, that even sounds good._

_If it sounds that good, how come you never do any laundry?_

_What? Mum loves laundry._

_She does not._

_She does! She irons shirts twice._

_What the?_

_Once when they are damp and again when they are dry._

_Why would she do that?_

_I dunno. She says it makes it easier to iron them the second time._

_Of course it does, she __**already**__ ironed them._

_I don't get it. It's mum. She's just lucky I don't wear shirts much._

At least Embry had successfully changed the subject; even if it was to laundry.

But Quil was right; Paul was still obsessed with the girls. He had suggested to Bella that she might like to try 'the other dark meat; the one with the boner' and Bella had slapped him.

She had hurt her hand doing it.

He was lucky Leah hadn't slapped him instead. That would have hurt. But Leah got him back in a way more painful manner. She held Bella's sore hand up to her face. She fluttered her feather duster eyelashes at Paul and then she had kissed it better for Bella. With an awful lot of tongue and way too much extraneous hip action.

Paul had actually whimpered and Leah had flicked him a triumphant glance. She knew she had got to him. She always was the smart one.

So that was it! Challenge accepted. At least that was how Paul saw it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3.**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

There were fewer and fewer vampires around Forks, as if the Cullens had actually attracted them to the area as well. Made sense. They probably could detect other vampires in the area. Embry joked that they were tourists and came to see the golden eyed vampire freaks. Forks was Vampyland, said Quil. They kept patrolling; Sam would not let them off that easily and besides, they all needed the run; the physical outlet.

Bella kept noticing that Paul watched her. And if he wasn't watching her, he was watching Leah. He did it in his usual way; completely brazen about it. He didn't try to hide it, if she caught him at it. He just stared at her, unblinking and she found herself turning away first.

Paul had always interested her. He had an easy confidence. He moved in a way that was really fascinating to her. He was physically economical, as if no movement was wasted. She thought that he, of all the pack, seemed the most like a real predator in human form.

He was no older than the other pack members, but he always seemed older to her. More experienced she guessed. Maybe it was his life. She asked around and found out that he lived with his father. His father did shift work with the lumber mills and was away a lot. No one really seemed to want to talk about his mother; they just said that they didn't know what had happened to her, but that he and his father had arrived in La Push when Paul was about eight years old.

In the long run, she asked Sue Clearwater one night. Sue gave her an odd look and said that as far as she could remember, Paul's mother had been a drug addict. That made Bella feel sorry for him. Like Jake, he had lost his mother young. Well, Jake's had actually died. Paul's mother might still be alive, and that made it almost worse. That she had wanted nothing to do with him.

He was a motherless boy and all the rest of the pack had mothers; even if they didn't all have fathers. She thought the whole lot of them were all a little damaged. Maybe it was the area, she didn't know, but she thought it was odd that so many of them came from one parent families. Quil's father was dead, Leah's was too, Embry didn't even have a father, Sam's had abandoned his family and maybe Embry as well, if the rumors were true. Jake's mother had died when he was nine, and Paul's had left him when he was young. Only Jared had both parents.

She remembered the Cullens with their faultless family unit. Artificial as it was; they had manufactured their own family and like everything the Cullens did, it was perfect. Except for the loose end of Edward, and she had ruined all their plans in that regard.

She understood now, why Emily always mothered them all. She was a lot like Esme in that way. They all needed it. Emily and Sam were like their parents. It was a lot to ask of them when they were so young. Sam was Leah's age and she was only twenty one. He was too young to be responsible for all these guys.

The influence of the Cullens was still affecting the tribe. Two more boys phased. Collin Littlesea was Jake's cousin and Brady Fuller was a more distant cousin of Leah's and Seth's. Leah was furious about it. They were even younger than Seth at only thirteen. Bella comforted her by telling her that the Cullens were gone and that they had to be the last. She prayed that they would be.

Bella decided that she would try to help Emily more by looking after the newbies, it was all she could do. Especially as Emily needed to rest more with the pregnancy progressing.

She was at Emily's one day, helping her bake bread when Paul came in. He had just finished a patrol with Collin and Brady.

"Are they settling in all right?" she asked him. She was kneading the dough and had flour up her arms. She brushed her hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand.

He made a face and shrugged. "Yeah. I suppose." He studied Bella. "Why?"

"You're a mentor to them."

Paul snorted.

"You are!" Bella argued. "So you need to make sure to teach them the right way to do things and the right way to behave."

"Uh-huh." He sounded skeptical.

"Teach them how to be good wolves."

"Like Guru Paul?"

"Yes, Like that." She threw the bread down and thumped it. When she glanced up, Paul was still watching her. "What?"

He pointed at her. "You've got flour…"

"Where?" She couldn't see and couldn't touch it. She turned her face towards him.

"Right there," he said. He reached out a hand and brushed it from her forehead.

"Cool. Thanks."

He turned to leave and Bella watched him go. And he seemed to know it. He gave her a final glance just before he shut the door.

She shivered. Then punched her bread dough.

* * *

The girls saved up their money and got a television and a DVD player. They were having a classic movie night one evening. Seth, Embry, and Quil had come over to the house and they had started with Bullit. Bella was unconvinced by Quil's argument that it had an awesome car chase. "Oh, come on Bella. A Mustang and a Charger in the hills of San Francisco. It's a classic!"

Embry finally convinced her that it was a film school study topic and that she should watch for the long camera shots and visionary lighting; bearing in mind that it was made in 1968.

She frowned at him, but agreed to it, as long as they could watch Hitchcock's Vertigo afterward. "To see a different side of San Francisco," she argued.

They had been watching for a while when Quil commented on Steve McQueen's lack of dialogue. "He barely says anything. I thought he was this great actor."

"He acts with his eyes," argued Embry. "You watch him."

Bella watched him too. She spoke without thinking, "He walks like Paul does."

Everyone looked at her.

"You know… how he never seems to waste a movement?"

They all turned to watch the movie again.

"Huh," said Leah. "You're right." She hugged Bella and kissed her quickly. "Clever girl."

She had nearly said something about Paul's eyes, too. She bit her lip before it came out.

"I dunno," argued Quil, "I reckon Paul never stops moving; he's always doing something."

* * *

Paul knew women. He had been too bold with Bella. Now he needed subtlety and time. He dialed it back a little. Slow and steady and all that…

If he was around at Sam and Emily's or their place, he watched her. He did little things for her. Reached up for jars she couldn't get. Helped her open the house door when she had armfuls of groceries. He became Mr Observant. He noticed that they needed a shelf in the laundry. Suggested she put a pot rack above the cooker. They didn't have a lot of cupboard space and it would free up some room.

"Oh, I have always wanted one of those hanging racks," Bella said. "So French Provincial, but I can't get one around here and believe me, I've tried!"

"What if I make one? It won't be copper or cast iron, but you could paint it with special metal paint. I'll break out the oxy-welder."

"Paint it matte black and then it will look like cast iron," Bella suggested.

"Right." He smiled at her. He looked up above the cook-top. "How big did you want it?"

She showed him and he made a mock-up out of some scrap timber. He brought it over to show her. Leah opened the door and gave him a measuring look. He held it up to show her and explained it was for Bella's kitchen. He and Leah held up each side of it above the cook-top so that she could see how it would look from a distance.

"What do you think, Leah?" Bella asked.

Leah shrugged. "The kitchen is your space. You can do what you want with it."

"What about the weight? It would be awful if it all fell down."

"It does need to be able to hold some weight. I'll hang it from a ceiling joist. It should be fine."

"Maybe it should be over the kitchen island, instead."

"That would be better. Then it won't get so dirty, from the cooker."

It took him a few trips to finish the project. Leah watched him. Bella was bouncing in excitement. "I will have to really polish all the pots so they gleam."

Leah rolled her eyes as Bella started digging around in the cupboards.

Leah followed Paul to the door and asked, in a wolf only hearing voice, "Why are you doing this?"

"Bella cooks a lot. She's been helping Emily cater for the pack."

"Right," said Leah sceptically.

"Hey I cook sometimes. It's not that easy."

"I know it's not easy."

"Muffins get boring," Paul said.

"Yeah. You got that right."

He glanced at the crowded bookcase. "What if I put up a shelf in the kitchen for her recipe books? Might free up some more space."

Leah's eyes narrowed, but she had to admit that he was right. "She'd really like that."

Paul grinned. "Hey, Bella," he called, "where do you want your kitchen recipe book shelf?" He walked back towards the kitchen. Bella was dragging pots out of cupboards to hang up. "Can't put them on top of the fridge, you can't reach," he added.

"Oh." She climbed to her feet. He held her arm so that she didn't lose her balance. Leah bit back a growl.

"What about under this cupboard? A normal person couldn't use that, but a munchkin like you should be fine."

"Oh, Paul," she chided and smacked him on the arm. "Just because all you guys are behemoth sized." She looked around the tiny kitchen. "That would work, because they would be away from the stove. I don't want them to get damaged."

"And you don't use that space," Paul added.

Their heads ducked under the cupboard together and Leah had to resist the urge to growl at him again. Bella glanced up at her as if she knew what Leah was thinking. She looked so happy, any protests Leah had, died in her throat.

* * *

"I saw you watching Paul, today," Leah said. "When he was putting in the shelf for you."

"What do you mean?"

"So you don't deny it?"

"Deny what? That I watched him… yes; yes, I was."

"Why? And why him?"

Bella shrugged.

"Bella, tell me. We don't keep secrets from each other. Well, at least we used to."

"I don't know… he's just … he's a man."

"A man?"

"Yes… they walk differently, stand differently…" She trailed off.

"From us," Leah checked. "Women?"

"Yes, I was just watching him." She fiddled with something in her hand.

"Right." Leah frowned.

Bella nervously started talking, "I mean, have you noticed how guys take their shirt off?"

"Excuse me?"

"You or I, we'd grab the hem and pull it over our head and uncross our arms as we did it. Guys reach down behind their back and bunch it up in the centre and then lift it over their head."

"Not all guys take off their shirts like that; just some of them. And you're babbling."

"A little bit. Sorry."

"Guys."

"I was just watching and thinking. Just watching."

Leah nodded. "Don't watch Quil," she added.

"Why not?"

"He'd take it the wrong way."

"Oh. Okay."

* * *

Leah was already concerned that she had ruined Bella's life and now she worried. Bella didn't seem to behave any differently, but Leah worried that Paul already watched them and now Bella was reciprocating. She wasn't sure what to do about it.

But it wasn't in Leah's nature to just leave it alone.

She noticed Bella was reading romance novels again. She picked one up and scanned through it quickly; it was pretty racy. Lots of descriptive sex.

Leah had her doubts about Paul's motives and she kept a very close eye on him. But as often as she watched him, he kept his hands to himself, so she had nothing to complain about. And he was right, Bella was more interested in the pack; especially the youngest wolves. She was helping Emily more than Leah had realized. Especially as Leah tried to avoid her.

They were in the bath together one night when Leah just asked her what she was doing with the pack.

"I have a theory about the pack. I think they all need mothering." She told Leah all about her broken family theory. "They need more mothers," she said firmly. "Emily can't do it on her own."

"I suppose," Leah conceded. "But I don't think Collin and Brady look on you as a mother." Or Paul, she didn't say.

"Oh, don't be silly. They are so young."

"Thirteen in the body of a twenty something," Leah pointed out.

"They still seem young to me-"

"And they share a mind with Paul and Quil."

"Ewww," said Bella.

"Exactly!"

"But Paul is okay."

"Okay? **How** is he okay? He's a complete man whore!"

"He is?"

"Heck, yeah. The way those guys look? And way back when the pack was just him, Sam and Jared, he was the only one without an imprint. So he played the field. He was a very busy wolf boy." She noticed that Bella was oddly quiet.

"What's the matter?"

Bella spoke in a small voice, "I remember when the pack was just those three."

"Fuck! Sorry. I forgot that they found you in the woods that time… when you got… lost." She didn't want to remind her that Edward Cullen had dumped her in the forest and broken her heart.

"Sam found me. He carried me all the way back to Charlie's. I remember them all standing in the corner of our living room like replicas of each other. I didn't know them then, so I couldn't tell them apart."

Silence.

Leah lifted the sponge and wiped down Bella's back with it.

"So Paul was busy?" Bella asked. "With women?"

"Oh, yeah. But he was smart."

"How?"

"He didn't go for the girls his own age."

"Really?"

"He went for the older ladies, mostly."

"Why?"

"He said it was easier. They knew what they were doing and they didn't want complications or relationships. And they didn't have fathers."

"Probably just husbands," Bella quipped.

Leah laughed. "He'd like a fight almost as much."

"Did he tell you this?" Bella checked.

"No." Leah rolled her eyes. "Just how many hours do you think I spent on patrol with them all?"

"I suppose. Quil would have bragged about it, if he was a man whore."

"Oh, yeah. He's trying to be one now, but subtlety is not Quil's biggest asset."

Bella chuckled. "Embry wouldn't gossip."

"You got that right. I usually have no idea what he is up to. But I have to say Paul kept it pretty much on the down low. You never knew exactly who he was getting busy with."

"He'd need to do that if the women _did_ have husbands," Bella pointed out.

"True. They'd be out to the rez to complain-"

"So these were Forks wives?"

"Yep and up to Port Angeles once he ran out of options around here."

"Goodness."

Silence for a beat.

Bella spoke, "Seth is just an open book. He'd never gossip either."

"He is not! He can be sneaky."

"Pfft. You're just saying that."

"Sneaky," Leah repeated. "He's my little brother. I know."

"I don't believe it. You're biased against him."

"Sneaky," Leah insisted. She climbed out of the bath and grabbed a towel; wrapped it around her chest and then grabbed a second towel for Bella.

Bella stood and allowed the water to drain into the tub.

Leah looked at her appreciatively.

Bella smiled back at her. Bella had never considered herself beautiful; she could never understand why Edward had loved her at first sight or why all those boys at school had kept trying to ask her out. But when Leah looked at her, she felt gorgeous; the admiration shone from her eyes.

Leah held up the towel. With an eyebrow raise.

Confidently, Bella stepped out onto the floor. Her hair was clipped up on top of her head so that it didn't get wet. She reached up, unclipped it and shook her hair out. Leah made a small noise, like a sigh. Bella threw the clip onto the vanity without taking her eyes off Leah. She stepped forward, lifting her hands to Leah's face and Leah wrapped her body in the towel. They kissed. Bella remembered their first kiss; it was always like that. How she had felt so loved and so wanted. She held Leah to her, but then she wanted more. Her fingers dug under the towel, loosening it until Leah shifted back a little and it fell down.

Bella kissed her way down to Leah's breast. Leah shivered a little. Bella breathed out onto her nipple. Then she very gently lifted her head so that the peaked nipple just brushed against her bottom lip; it bounced back into place and Leah made another small noise. Her hands tangled in Bella's hair. Bella hands pushed the towel down further until it dropped to the floor. She sucked Leah's nipple into her mouth and worked it with her tongue. Her hand dove lower and slid between Leah's moist lower lips, wet from the bath but now wet from something else.

Her own towel fell to the floor forgotten as her hand worked at Leah. Leah moaned and her hips rocked forwards. They fell to the floor together.

* * *

They were at a pack function once and Paul smiled at Bella. It made Leah stop in her tracks. It was a genuine, wide smile. It was so contagious that Bella had smiled back at him before she had thought about it.

She and Leah discussed it later on the way home.

"When did Paul's leering smirk turn into a genuine smile?" Leah asked.

"I don't know," said Bella. "I suppose it was when he stopped trying so hard."

"When did he stop trying too hard?" Leah asked.

Bella chuckled. "I don't know that one, either. He probably just knows that we are not available." She patted Leah's thigh. "I am a taken woman," she said.

Leah grinned at her. "Yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah and Bella lay in bed together. Leah was on her stomach and Bella was drawing on the skin of Leah's back with ceaseless fingers. They were always touching each other. If Bella had to describe their relationship in one word, it would be sensual. Leah could run a finger down Bella's stomach and make her shiver.

"Leah, can I ask you a question?"

"Mmmf. Yeah."

"Sex with a guy; what's it like?"

Leah stilled. She could hear from Bella's nervousness that this question mattered to her.

When she didn't immediately answer, Bella hurried to add something, "I'm not unhappy with you… just-"

"Curious," Leah interrupted.

She sighed. "Yeah." She shrugged.

"It's different. They are hard, physically. Bigger, generally. Usually stronger than a female."

"Oh, okay. Not stronger than you are now."

"No, not now. But with Sam, remember, I wasn't a wolf then. Nor was he," Leah added. It occurred to her that she had never had sex with a wolf guy. "Being filled feels different to what we do together."

Bella nodded. "I guess so."

Leah rolled over so that she could see Bella's face. She had forgotten that Bella was still a technical virgin. Her fingers had taken care of the physical signs, but clearly Bella still thought of herself as inexperienced. "You aren't happy," Leah accused.

"I am happy. I am! I was just wondering; that's all."

* * *

George Blewett owned the gas station where Leah worked. He was in his late fifties, early sixties. He wasn't overweight and he had a way of walking and standing at ease that indicated he used to be in the army. He lived in worn checked shirts over a white t-shirt. Leah noticed that he had a couple of faded military tattoos. When she asked him about them, he just said "Vietnam" and that was the end of that discussion.

He liked Leah. She wasn't a girly girl. She didn't mind getting her hands dirty, and working in a garage, you got your hands dirty. But she sure was decorative. He thought Leah was good for business. She was easy to work with, stronger than she looked and he got heaps of repeat business because of her.

He knew she lived with another girl and that was absolutely none of his business. It didn't affect the way she did her job.

George said 'sure, sure' one day.

Leah laughed. "Do you know Jacob Black?" she asked him.

He looked confused. "Your friend Jacob?"

"Yeah, that one."

He shook his head. "Not to talk to; just by sight."

"He says 'sure, sure' all the time."

"Does he now? Well, I've got more. How about 'boy howdy'?"

"What does that even mean?" She laughed. "And is it positive or negative?"

"No idea. But it sounds good, eh? Boy Howdy," he repeated. "It sounds kind of positive."

She shook her head. "I am surrounded by people with weird speech patterns."

"Not surrounded, surely."

"Nope. I am. My brother Seth puts more words into one sentence than a sentence really needs. And Bella says 'holy crow' as an exclamation."

"She does? What does that mean?"

"I don't think she knows."

They both laughed.

* * *

Leah was filling the refrigerator at work. Her hands were busy, but she was thinking about Bella; Bella and her worries and her cute little mannerisms. Leah remembered that smile - the genuine smile that Paul had given Bella that day. He was a jerk, there was no doubt about that, but she had heard that he was good in bed. He looked after his women. And he usually only slept with them once.

Would he look after Bella? It wasn't as if he was going to fall in love with her or complicate matters. It'd be a one-time thing. She flirted with the idea of getting someone awful for her, but she didn't want to do that. She loved Bella. The last thing she wanted was for Bella to be hurt or shocked into abstinence. Jeez, that would suck.

She was nuts to even think about it, but she knew Bella. She got hung up on things. Look how long it had taken her to get over that dick head Edward. Four months of sitting around thinking about him and barely living. She didn't like it when Bella worried about stuff.

Then Bella brought it up again another night. She had drunk a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. Now they lived alone, she sometimes had a glass. It made her kind of silly and Leah suspected that she would never be a big drinker. The pack usually didn't bother, unless they were really in the mood and then had to go for the hard stuff or rez made moon shine to get a buzz.

Bella was clearly feeling a bit reckless and had obviously forgotten that she had asked Leah about sex with guys before. The fact that she was still asking meant that she was still thinking about it, too. Not a good sign, as far as Leah was concerned.

"You could do it with a guy if you wanted to," Leah suggested. "I wouldn't be upset. But you'd have to be with someone who knew what they were doing," she said.

Bella blushed and didn't say anything.

Leah reached a hand up and brushed her cheek. "How you still blush…?" She shook her head. "Look at me," she ordered.

Bella met her eyes, nervously.

"Do you want to try?" Leah asked her. "Be honest!"

Bella took a breath. "I don't know. I keep thinking I ought to, just in case." Her eyes dropped. "I've made some mistakes in my life." She looked up again, hurriedly. "Not that you are one of those, but I just…"

"Worry," Leah finished for her when she stopped speaking. Jeez, Bella Swan was an Olympic worrier. And over-thinker. Leah knew that in one sense, if she didn't get this out of her system, she'd continue to worry over it, making it a much bigger issue than it needed to be. "Do you have a preference?"

Again, Bella didn't answer her.

So Leah made her choice for her. She knew Bella. She knew if she left it up to her, she'd deny it and prevaricate. Leah loved her and she wanted her to be completely happy.

"Oh," Leah crowed, "I know who to ask!"

Bella let out a squeak noise. "You can't ask someone we know!"

"What? You want me to take you to a bar and leave you there? For some stranger? And he might be awful in bed."

"No, don't leave me in a bar. I suppose he does need to know what he is doing, given that I don't," she conceded.

"Besides," Leah added, "they need to know the ground rules. You're mine; they don't get to keep you."

Bella sighed happily. "Yes." She clutched suddenly at Leah's hand. "Can you stay with me?"

"During? You would like me to watch?"

A bitten lip. A quick nod.

"Cool. Should be hot. I like watching you when you let loose."

Bella blushed again.

Leah grabbed her and held her in close. "I'll make sure you're safe, beautiful. Don't worry."

Bella kissed her. "I love you, Leah."

"Love you, too, baby."

"Who are you going to ask?" Bella asked.

"It's a secret, but I don't think you'll object."

* * *

Watching Paul herself, Leah had a thought of her own. She chuckled and decided that he'd do it.

* * *

Paul was getting frustrated. This slow game had better freaking pay off. He knew Bella watched him. He knew all her signs; she bit her lip, wiped her hands on her jeans and got klutzier if that was even possible. He could also hear her heart rate increase when he was around. She had all the classic signs of interest in him.

He had worked on what he liked to think of as his Swan smile. It started as a side mouth movement and then it slowly grew into a wide smile. The trick was the speed; too fast and it looked forced and too slow and it looked creepy. He had it down pat, now.

The first time he had tried it out, she had beamed back at him. It was actually kind of cute. Old Bella hadn't smiled much, and when she did it was only a small one. He was determined to reel her in. It had started as a response to Leah's challenge. That was how he saw her kissing Bella's hand in front of him. And Bella was the only woman he couldn't have.

If he was honest with himself, he wanted either of them; her or Leah, and the predator within had identified Bella as the weaker prey. So he had aimed for her. And he thought she was starting to come around. Ever so slowly, he started to reel her in. It was entertaining. And to steal the partner of another wolf? That was all kinds of fun.

He phased in one day, and got a glimpse of Leah's worries. Bella was asking about sex with guys? Interesting. He phased right out again before she detected him. He almost rubbed his hands with Mephistophelean glee.

Paul wasn't one to think about consequences or what would happen to Leah and Bella's relationship later; the game was to bed Bella.

And then Leah just knocked on his door. Well, not really, she just barged right in. Fuck, that shit was annoying.

* * *

The next evening Leah jogged up to Paul's place. She knew he was at home and didn't bother knocking.

"Lahote?" she called out as she let herself in. She could smell dinner. She headed for the kitchen.

"Yo," Paul responded. He was standing, stirring something on the stove. "Whassup?"

"Got an offer for you."

He glanced up at her quickly. "Uh, huh." He looked intrigued.

"What kind of offer?" he asked, when she didn't say immediately.

"Sex."

He blinked. "With?" Typical of Paul to check the fine print.

"Bella," Leah said.

He raised an eyebrow when she didn't say any more.

Leah felt compelled to add, "She would like to get laid."

"Uh, huh. I think I got that… what with the offer of sex 'n all."

"She's been asking about what sex with guys is like and you know what she's like; she'll worry herself to death about it, if she doesn't cross it off the to-do list."

"That sounds like Bella," he agreed.

"And you know she's mine, so it's just a one-time thing."

Paul nodded. He was still stirring whatever it was; looking down into the pot now. "And?" He knew Leah; he knew there would be more conditions.

Leah added, "She wants me there."

"Of course."

Silence.

He stirred some more. "And? I assume you have other conditions."

"She may want to get fucked, but personally, what I've always wanted to do is fuck someone else," Leah noted.

"You could do her and keep me out of it," he suggested evenly. "Cut out the middle man."

"Not the same and you know it."

"I suppose."

"And besides, I want to fuck you. In the ass."

Paul dropped his spoon. "Christ, Leah!"

She watched him.

He bent down to pick the spoon up from the floor and he tossed it into the sink. He wiped the spot on the floor and then his hands on a dishcloth. He stared at the dishcloth in his hands.

Leah waited. She was trying to gauge his physical reactions. They were a bit erratic.

Paul cleared his throat. "So I fuck her, with you watching… and then you… what, exactly did you have in mind?" He rubbed his face with one hand.

"Strap-on," she supplied.

He let out a breath.

She saw his shoulders raise and lower. He turned to look at her now. He tossed the dishcloth into the sink, too. Then he nodded slowly. "Okay… but I've got conditions, too."

She nodded.

He looked up into her face, for the first time since they had started this conversation. "You and me," he suggested. "At a different time. Alone and outside in the forest."

That surprised her. "Why outside?"

"You're a wolf, Leah. Not a normal girl." He took a step closer to her; his voice lowered. "Just once I want to fuck really hard. Let loose and know that I can't hurt the girl. I can't grab her too hard and break a rib. Or, that if I do, she'll heal as fast as I will." Another step closer. "That's what I need and I'll do anything for it."

She believed him. She noted that he said 'need' and not 'want'. He also looked particularly intense. Maybe she had picked the wrong guy. She wanted an experienced lover for Bella and she also knew that Bella thought Paul was okay. What had she called him a long time ago when they were drunk that night? Dangerous. Maybe she was more right than she knew. She wondered how long it would take her to heal from Paul's definition of hard fucking.

"Doesn't seem fair," she argued. "You get both of us."

He shrugged. "And you both get me in the different ways you wanted. Come on, Leah, who else will agree to getting pegged?"

"True." She had known that before she even asked. Well, at least suspected it. You had to be pretty sure of your masculinity to let her do what she wanted to do to him.

She didn't think anyone else would agree to it.

"And you can let loose, too," he added. "You can't hurt me."

She supposed that she could really let loose. But whatever she did to him, he could do to her, later. So she'd have to decide which way to go. Either be safe or go all out.

He tilted his head. He watched her and waited for her answer.

Ah, heck. She'd go all out. It wasn't in her nature to do things halfway.

"Deal," she said. "What size strap-on do you want?"

"Eight inches seems fair. It's what you'll get later." He leered at her. It seemed more out of habit than anything else.

She nodded.

He grinned at her. "I vote for 'vagina' as the safe word," Paul quipped. "I'm not gonna miss that one."

"Why does everyone have to have a safe word?" Leah grizzled. "Surely 'stop' is good enough."

* * *

Paul was delighted. Leah had made her offer. Bingo! He'd been pretty sexually inventive but he had never been pegged before. He had always had his doubts that a normal female would be capable of doing it to him once he became a wolf, so he had never tried. But Leah? She'd be strong enough. Shit, she might actually hurt him, but it was worth the risk if he got Bella as well.

But he could also tell how much this meant to Leah and he upped the ante; added in Leah too, for the icing on the cake, and she had fucking agreed! He could not believe it. Both of them, just as he had planned. Yes! It had taken everything he had to look uninterested in her answers and to keep his body signs level.

He had said outdoor sex and assumed that she would put it together. His wolf was very excited by the prospect of doing Leah outdoors. The wolf could take or leave Bella, but Paul, the man, was intrigued by her. All this effort he had put into attracting her attention had kind of worked both ways.

* * *

"I asked Paul," Leah blurted out to Bella at the dinner table that night.

"Asked Paul, what?" Bella said. She was reading a book and not taking that much notice of Leah.

"To have sex with you."

Bella choked a little on her potato and put her cutlery down carefully. "Paul?" she checked when she had got her breath back.

"Yeah. You like him. You've been watching him."

Bella didn't say anything to that. "And he agreed? I assume he did or you wouldn't be telling me this."

"Yes. He agreed."

"He's okay with you being there?"

Leah nodded. "He completely understood that, being a wolf."

"I see." Bella put her book away. "You really didn't think of discussing it with me first?"

"We talked about getting a guy. Why? Are you objecting? I thought you'd like him."

Bella huffed. "When did you think this might be happening?"

"We didn't set a date. We'll just see how it pans out."

"Oh. Okay."

"Are you worried about it?"

"I am a little nervous. I just wondered if I should shave my legs or something."

"Just be yourself, beautiful."

"The way you like me?" Bella sounded nervous and uncertain.

"Of course! I love you that way, so he should, too."

Bella wasn't sure that Paul loving her was part of this deal.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: Now I know you will all whine about the missing bits, but trust me. You will see what happens, later]**

* * *

Paul and Bella sat at opposite ends of the sofa. They were watching television. At least the picture was on and the sound, but nobody was paying it much attention. Leah was stalking back and forth across the floor like a caged tiger. Her body thrummed with tension. She was having real trouble with this.

Paul eyed her off. He knew that Bella was picking up on Leah's tension and getting more nervous herself. She had been more relaxed when he had arrived; had even smiled at him. And Leah was ruining everything.

He stood. "This isn't going to work," he announced.

Silence.

Leah's jaw was locked tight. Bella was staring at the floor.

"I'll just go," Paul said.

Bella glanced up at him. He couldn't read her face properly, but he thought that she looked disappointed. She sighed. Yep, definitely disappointed.

Leah grunted out, "I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

"This is just too tense. I can't…" said Paul. "I feel bad."

Bella looked at Leah again.

"She wanted me here," Leah argued.

Bella didn't speak. Paul nodded. "Sure, I get that. But honestly, Leah, you're bringing the whole thing down." He gestured at Bella. "She's more tense because she knows you are upset."

"Fuck!" Leah swore. She moved suddenly and threw herself at Bella's feet with her face in her lap. "I'm sorry," Leah whispered.

Bella hugged her. "It's okay, Leah. It doesn't matter."

Paul still hadn't left, but luckily they hadn't noticed that he was bluffing. He frowned as he thought. "Alcohol?" he suggested.

"Like that time you braided my hair and got drunk?" Bella chortled. "It was me that got drunk though, not you, Leah."

"Yeah. You kissed me and then you passed out and forgot everything."

"I did not forget everything," Bella denied.

Leah lifted her head and looked into her eyes. Then she seemed to make her decision. "I'll just go," she said. "That will be the easiest."

Paul could have cheered.

"No. You don't have to," Bella said.

"Paul's right. I am making you nervous and I am making you feel guilty, when you have nothing to feel guilty about."

Bella blushed, looked at Paul and then whispered to Leah, "But I wanted you to see me."

"I still can," Leah whispered back. "The pack."

"Oh, the pack mind! I had forgotten about that. Will that work?" Bella glanced at Paul again. She looked more hopeful.

"I'll just ask him to show me the memory, later," Leah suggested.

Bella frowned suddenly. "What if someone else sees it?"

Paul gave her a half smile. "They could have anyway, but generally I don't kiss and tell. Or kiss and show, I suppose, or whatever you want to call it." He didn't say that Leah was not quite so good at keeping her thoughts private. Let them worry about that later. Not his problem.

Bella looked at Leah for confirmation. "Is that true?"

Leah thought about it, and then nodded. "Yeah - pretty much." She got to her feet. "I'll just go and leave you two alone. That way I won't upset you. I'll stay the night at Mum's, so don't expect me back. That way you won't have to worry about me arriving in the middle of something or anything. I should go now, before I change my mind and ruin everything." She kissed Bella quickly and ran for the door, slamming it behind her. Bella jumped a little when the door banged shut.

Paul hadn't moved. He looked slightly amused. He glanced back at Bella. "It's not like her to tie herself in knots like that. She must really love you."

"Yes, she does. The fact that she even organized this is evidence enough."

There was an awkward silence.

Paul sat back down on the sofa and waited.

Bella stared at the television and said nothing.

Eventually Paul stood, walked over to the front door that Leah had escaped through and latched it.

Bella watched him do it. He walked back over and stood in front of her, blocking her view of the TV. He stood for a second, and then just turned it off. He held out his hand to her.

She bit her lip, stared at the floor and then shakily reached up and took it.

He tugged at her hand until she stood. "Did you want a kiss?" he asked quietly.

"I… don't know."

Paul nodded. "Well, we will just see how it goes."

She yanked her hand out of his grasp and wiped her palms on her jeans. She huffed. "Oh, God, I'm sorry." Then she held her hands up and almost flapped them.

Paul smiled. "Shhh. Don't panic. You need to calm down a little."

He interlaced his fingers with hers. Stepping in closer to her. He dropped his hands down, taking hers with them. He moved sideways in a kind of dance step move. "What will help?" he asked her.

She didn't reply.

"A dance?" Another side step. "A bath? A massage? A run naked through the forest?'

Bella chuckled nervously. "A run through the forest is not going to calm me down," she pointed out.

"Noted. It makes me excited, for future reference." He grinned at her and took another tiny step towards her. "I vote for you naked, though"

She avoided that one. "Maybe I should have a bath?"

He was much closer to her now; his body almost touching hers. "You don't need a bath, Bella." Her face was pointing down to the floor. He had to peer under it to see her eyes. "You smell great," he assured her. He kissed the side of her head in her hairline. "You smell really good to me."

She took a deep breath.

"Hmm?" he asked her. Another press of lips into her hair.

She lifted her face to look at him. Now he had her full attention. Her lips parted and she licked her lower lip nervously.

He bent his head down and kissed her; very gently and carefully. No tongue.

She should be more relaxed than this. She wasn't an inexperienced virgin, but he didn't want to say that she fucked Leah every night. He didn't want to remind her of Leah in case she changed her mind and bailed out, as well. Went running to Leah. He knew she wanted to do this. He knew she had been asking about it. So the L word was off limits for tonight. No asking 'does Leah do this?'

He brushed his lips across hers again. At least she wasn't freaked by his body temperature. Bonus.

He was feeling a little over heated; he was actually wearing a shirt for once. And a proper shirt with buttons and long sleeves and everything. He had really dressed up for her. He was still holding her hands. He lifted her hands up and placed them on his chest; pressing them flat with his palms against the backs of them. She didn't move.

"Buttons," he suggested. He kissed the top of her head. She fitted easily under his chin, she was so little.

Her hand shifted slowly and she started to unbutton his shirt. He liked the look of her little white hands against his darker skin. She slid one of those hands inside his shirt and it brushed delicately across his chest.

She seemed to forget about the rest of the buttons and he had to do those himself. He was reveling in the feel of her fingertips brushing across his flesh. When the shirt fronts opened all the way down, she ran one fingertip down the center of his chest; it bounced over his ridged abs and down to his navel. He actually caught his breath.

The only hair he had on his body was a trail that went from below his navel and headed further south. She brushed it with her fingers and he twitched.

She looked up at him.

"Tickles," he said.

Christ, he needed to adjust himself in his jeans. He resisted the urge.

Her hands slid north again; palms flat against his skin, up his chest and slid under the shirt and out to the tops of his arms. She very gently pushed the shirt off his shoulders so that it fell down his arms. He put his hands straight out behind him and let it fall off.

He felt her lips press against his chest; light as butterfly touches. He closed his eyes. Damn, that felt good. She touched him so carefully and so tenderly. And then her lips closed around one of his nipples and he nearly moaned. Girls usually didn't bother with a guy's nipples, but Bella didn't know that. She sucked it into her mouth and rolled it with her tongue.

He slid his hand into her hair behind her head and tugged a tiny bit. She let go and he steered her face up to his. He kissed her a little more forcefully now. She opened her mouth. Still no tongue; slowly, slowly.

When he pulled his head back, she touched his face with her hand.

"It's rough," she commented.

"I shaved," he said.

Jesus, that meant she had never kissed a guy before. He didn't count Edweird; clearly she didn't.

She was starting to smell excited. He put a hand flat on each of her cheeks and pulled her face up to his; making her stretch up. He kissed her properly. Her arms went around his waist and his went down her back to hold her closer to his body. He pressed her in against him. She fell into his body.

This time, when he stopped for a breath, he ducked down and put an arm behind her knees. He picked her up. She slid an arm around his neck. He turned and walked towards the bedroom.

Her fingers stroked up his neck and tangled in the hair at the back of his neck. She leaned her face in and sniffed at him.

He smiled.

"Do I smell good?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"So do you," he told her.

She pressed her face into his neck and then he felt her lick him. Damn. She was different; sexually experienced, but not… you know? It intrigued him. What was she innocent at? The obvious, of course. That was why he was here. This should definitely be interesting.

He had reached the bedroom by then. He stood and lifted her easily, closer towards his face. Their lips locked together. Still kissing, he dropped her on her feet. Bending down so that he could maintain lip contact. His hands reached for her clothes. He wanted her naked; now. She started to help him undress; each of their hands getting in each other's way.

She chuckled. "Let me," she said.

He did a quick adjustment of his dick as she was pulling her shirt over her head. He decided to stay in his jeans until later. He didn't want to freak her out, with too much too soon. He had a feeling Bella Swan hadn't ever seen a naked erect man before. Jeez, if Jake had ever shown her that, the pack would have seen it for months.

He pulled a string of condoms out of his back pocket and put them on the side table. When he looked back she was mostly naked and staring at the bulge in his jeans.

He looked at her face, and gave her his Swan smile. "I can wait for a little while. I want to look after you, first."

She looked like she was going to get nervous again.

"Shhh," he crooned. He brushed her face gently. Running fingers across her lips and down her neck. "Look at you. You're beautiful."

She opened her mouth as if she was going to say something, then she stopped. She took a deep breath and then she threw herself at him.

He resisted the urge to laugh. Bella had made up her mind. He lifted her and dropped her onto her back on the bed. His hands reached for her hips and he buried his face in her panties.

* * *

He was three quarters asleep. Unusually for him, he was still there. He always bailed out; went home and showered. He never brought girls to his place either; that was **his** place. The bed smelt like both girls and him. He, and his wolf, liked it. He had his face buried in what he knew was Leah's pillow. He was lying on his side. Bella was lying on her back with his arm as a pillow. She wriggled onto her side. He shifted his arm; pulled her in closer against his chest and wound his arm around her to hold her in place. He closed his eyes.

He could feel her feather light touch again. She was tracing the veins up his arms; starting at his hands and stroking all the way up to his biceps and back down again. "They are like road maps," she said.

"Don't lead anywhere," he mumbled.

"They do… they go to your heart."

He snorted and fell asleep.

* * *

He woke at dawn.

Bella had asked him to wake her up. She was in a fit about washing all the bedding before Leah got home. He thought it was sweet that she worried about it. A wolf's senses were so acute, he didn't think it would matter, but it was nice of her to try.

They were a little awkward with each other. It was funny; given the number of times they had sex, only hours earlier. But it wasn't as if they were dating or learning about each other. He had been asked to do a job and he had done it. It had ticked a box on his to-do list as well.

In fact, he was a little concerned about her. When he woke her up, she had groaned and complained that she ached in places she didn't know could ache. He almost offered to kiss it better. He suggested she empty the trash as well. Get rid of the used condoms.

"Did you want breakfast?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I should just go. You need any help with the laundry?"

"If you wouldn't mind hanging the pillows outside to air, when you leave?"

"I can do that for you."

She smiled at him and when he smiled back, he realized that it was a natural response.

Damn.


	6. Chapter 6

**chapter 6**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

[AN: I am following the new history for Paul from the Illustrated Guide to twilight. He and his father live alone.]

Paul went home and showered. And then he ate half the fridge. He was hungry.

He thought over the evening with Bella. Even if the rest of the offer was withdrawn, he had deflowered Bella Swan. He snorted at the thought of what Jacob Black was going to say about that.

He was rather pleased with himself. He had got to rub his scent all over Leah's place **and** Leah's girlfriend. He had scent marked her territory in a big way. And next Leah got him, and then he got her.

Yep; it was all good.

Maybe he could even get them both; at the same time? That would be awesome.

He refused to deal with the fact that he hadn't bailed out and left Bella sleeping in her bed. Nor, that he had snuggled her and gone to sleep with her. And he really wasn't going to believe that he had enjoyed himself more than he expected to.

* * *

Bella wanted to clean the whole house, but couldn't. She was too sore. She had lost count, but she thought they had sex at least three times in several different positions. She knew Paul had used more condoms than three, as well. She had helped to put the last one on.

Guys were _very_ different. Male genitalia was just all out there, outside the body. Now she understood why they were always touching it. It was just… there; front and center.

She suspected that she was going to have some bruises. Paul had some scratches, too, but, of course, they healed fast. Faster than she would. She left the window open in the bedroom to air it. She hung the sheets on the clothesline after they finished in the washer.

It was **very** different, Leah was right about that. He was as strong as Leah, but much bigger. She knew that Leah was not like a normal girl, but Paul was way harder than her. Leah felt soft compared to him.

He was so tall, that she had felt surrounded by him. She had felt as small as the munchkin that he sometimes teased her that she was. She had very different orgasms, too. They seemed to plateau; she had stayed at an excitement level for what seemed like ages. Or maybe that was just Paul?

When Leah got home, Bella was in the bath covered with bubbles for both strategic vision and scent blocking value. And for the warm soak.

Leah had been torn between running back to check on Bella and staying away. She was later than she had imagined she would be. It was almost lunch time. She had found it really hard to turn her feet towards home.

Seth kept giving her odd glances. Eventually she had got herself together. She picked up some takeout on the way for lunch. She wasn't avoiding going home, just getting lunch. Yeah, right.

The house reeked of sex and Paul.

She sighed. She really hoped this was the end of it for Bella's curiosity. She put the food down on the kitchen counter. She found her in the bath.

"Hey," she greeted her. She crouched down next to the bath and touched Bella on the top of the head.

"Hi."

Silence.

"I'm okay," Bella preempted.

"Okay."

"He was… careful and it was nice."

"That's good." Leah wasn't sure if she was pleased by that or not. Nice? What did that mean?

"You'll be able to see it for yourself, anyway," Bella added.

She didn't say anything. Oh yeah. She wasn't sure that she wanted to see it now. Nor what had possessed her to agree to fuck Paul herself. She hadn't told Bella that yet, and she wasn't sure why she was keeping it a secret from her. They didn't keep secrets from each other.

"When will that happen?" Bella asked.

"Not sure. Maybe in a few days' time."

"So you will go see him?"

"I suppose… he'll let me know. Maybe when we are on patrol one time." Shit. That was a thought. She'd **have** to tell Bella, before someone else did. "I got some lunch. I'll set it out. Come eat when you are ready."

Bella beamed at her. "Thanks, Leah." She paused. "I love you."

"Love you, too, beautiful."

Leah set out the food. She decided that she felt relieved. It was done. Bella had had sex with a guy.

Now it was her turn. She wasn't scared of the sex, but she was tossing up if it was worthwhile ditching the whole agreement. But she was intrigued about pegging Paul. She did want to do that. And if she did, then she had to pay up, as well. Keep to the agreement.

Bella thought sex was 'nice'? She shook her head.

She thought back. Sam had been her first everything; first kiss, boyfriend, love, and eventually lover. She had utterly adored him. She had criticized Bella in her thoughts for taking so long to get over Cullen, but really, she had been just as bad where Sam was concerned.

Their first time had been fumbling, embarrassing, slightly painful and over all too quickly. Thank goodness he had extra condoms. He had tried to put the first one on the wrong way around.

It was almost comical and Sam had always been a serious guy; she couldn't laugh at him. Not then. They had laughed about it together, later.

She had always thought that Sam was The One. Devastated didn't begin to describe how she felt when he had disappeared and then… Emily had happened.

Leah had not sat around in her bedroom mourning like Bella had. She had been asked out. She had jumped right back into the dating pool as if that would erase him, somehow. But none of them were Sam. They just didn't do it the right way; they were not him. The whole experience had left her more annoyed and irritated.

And then she had wolfed out.

The dating stopped. Fuck! Her whole life was broken. Shattered into pieces like her father's heart. Her life changed forever, her father dead, her future bound by the borders of the reservation. Her life was no longer her own. She hunted vampires, and her ex was her boss.

It was a freaking nightmare.

It was so ridiculous, that she wanted to laugh. But that was something she didn't do much anymore.

But then Bella Swan had come along, with her odd sayings and her complete blindness to her own self worth. She was hunted by vampires. She was more damaged than Leah. And Leah wanted to fix her. And to protect her.

And Bella had liked Leah for **her**, you know? Not because she was a wolf, not because of any other reason. Bella had just loved her.

She saw through the anger and the hurt and she saw a girl who needed a friend. And it had kindled something else; love and sexual attraction. Leah had never thought about being gay before. But Bella was different.

She had liked men; she completely got Bella's curiosity about them. And really, it was too much to have the pack as her man candy. They didn't look normal. They all looked like underwear models. Wandering around with their shirts off all the time, for fucks sake.

So, it was no wonder that Bella thought about men.

Half done. Just her and Paul left. She was leery of telling Bella about the _whole_ deal. She justified, to herself, that talk of pegging might make Bella feel guilty. That she would think she ought to be offering to let Leah do that to her. Leah didn't like that idea. She was terrified that she would hurt Bella. Paul could take it and he could heal, if she did hurt him.

And the outdoor sex? Jeez, did he want to go at it so hard that they were going to knock trees down or something? She chuckled at that image.

Ugh. Now she was thinking about Paul and sex in the same sentence.

Bella said he was careful and it was nice. As if she'd know? She had no one to compare him with. The only lover she had was Leah. Oh now, that didn't bear thinking about. Comparing herself with Paul.

She **hated** keeping secrets from Bella.

Speaking of, she came out of the bathroom dressed and with a towel wrapped around her hair.

"Paul wanted to have sex with me in the forest," Leah blurted out.

"Oh." Bella blinked.

Silence. Bella sat at the table and reached for the food. "I'm starving." She chewed for a little while. "In the forest, huh? Well, its not as if you'll get cold," she quipped. Then she got an eager look on her face. "Can I watch?"

"Ahh… no. I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why?"

"I think he wants to do it outside because he wants to be really rough." A pause. "Because I can take it. At least that was what he said."

"Oh."

Bella looked so disappointed, Leah started to justify herself, "You've only had sex with a guy once, and I don't want to frighten you."

"**That** rough?"

Leah shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. That's what he wanted."

Bella chewed thoughtfully. "Wait a second… that was his price? For having sex with me?"

Leah nodded.

"Oh." She put her lunch down as if she had lost her appetite.

Leah tried to process it; Bella-wise. Uh, oh. She thought that Paul wasn't attracted to her. That she was just the hurdle that he had to jump over to get Leah. Shit!

"I'm sure he was attracted to you. I'm sure he wanted you," she argued.

"You don't know that. You're not Paul."

"He agreed to it."

"So he could get **you**! Let's face it, you're more his type. You are a wolf for a start."

"No! He likes you." **SHIT! **Why was she trying to convince her of this? Bella's fragile self esteem? She knew how easily it broke. Stupid Cullen. "Look, it's done. This is what we agreed to and it's half over." Maybe only a third, but she didn't say that.

Bella folded her arms.

Leah continued, "We'll do this and then it will be back to just us; back to the way it was. Hmm?"

No answer.

"Please, Bella." She got to her feet. She crouched next to Bella's chair. "Please?"

Bella turned to her and put her arms around her. "I am sorry that I forced you into agreeing to do this with him."

"It's okay. It's not the same for me as it was for you. I've been with guys before; it's different for me. And you know that I would do anything for you."

Bella kissed her.

And Leah prayed it would all be all right.

* * *

Paul's father, Nikiti Lahote, drove up to his house. He parked his pick up in the drive, grabbed his bag and looked around. Nothing had changed. At least the place wasn't falling down. Grass needed a mow.

He wasn't as tall as Paul, but he had the same build; wide shoulders and slim hips. His arms were well developed because he had worked as a lumberjack for years. Nothing like swinging an axe or wielding a chain saw for good exercise. He was just forty and still a good looking man. He and Paul had been by themselves for the last ten years. Since he had left Tacoma and come home to La Push.

He didn't have much faith in women. He'd been hurt too many times. He suspected that some of Paul's disposable attitude to women might have come from him. He was his son.

But they did okay on their own.

He knew about his son's exploits with the local women. He was half proud, half concerned. He worried that Paul was heading the same way he had; making poor life choices.

He also knew about the pack. He had seen them one day out in the forest when he was doing a reconnoiter; a tree survey. He hadn't heard them and that was weird.

But they were hard to miss seeing. Giant, supernatural wolves flitting through the trees like ghosts. Not normal wolves. They had a crazy size and speed. There were only three of them.

One, a dark silver gray color had bounded over to him as if it knew him. He had stood there holding his clipboard and trying hard not to just drop it and run. It had nodded its massive head at him, yipped and then bounded off again after the others. The big black one had nipped its ear as if it was a naughty puppy.

The next time he was home, Paul had told him exactly what he was wearing that day and described the dumb fuck look he had on his face. The pack was Sam, Jared and Paul. The gray wolf was his son.

That took some getting used to. He knew the tribal stories and he knew it was supposed to be an honor to join the pack. It was the stuff of legends. But when it was your son? It was dangerous, even fatal. He worried. Cold ones, whatever they were, had killed wolf warriors in the past.

Paul was a long way from twenty. Had barely lived his life. And he had dropped out of school.

Poor life choices? You bet.

Education was the thing that got kids out of here; off the reservation. But his son didn't get that as a choice any more.

He let himself in the front door. "Paul?" His truck was here, he might be around.

A head appeared in the doorway. "Dad? You're back early."

"Jeez. Well thanks for being pleased to see me."

"Sorry. It's good to see you."

They nodded at each other. They were not the hugging type.

"No work today?"

"Nope. You hungry?"

"Yep. Have you left me any food?"

Paul chuckled. "Not much." He shrugged.

"Lucky I'm cashed up then. Shopping?"

"And lunch?" he asked hopefully.

"I can take you to the diner if you like." He raised a hand and pointed at him. "Limit of three burgers."

"Woo hoo."

"And put a damn shirt on. We'll take your pickup, mine is loaded up with crap."

* * *

He watched Paul demolish three burgers in the time it took him to eat one. "I thought you just ate?" he asked in disbelief. He'd seen the plates in the sink and knew Paul usually washed up.

"I did. Still hungry, though." He wiped some sauce from the side of his mouth with a finger.

Then they hit up the rez supermarket. It seemed to be full of people he knew and hadn't seen for months. Including Charlie Swan.

"Niki. You back in town?"

"Yep, got a week off." He gave Charlie a look. "What are you doing out here?"

Charlie looked embarrassed. "I …uh…" he mumbled.

"Charlie's dating Sue Clearwater," Paul said it for him. He'd never get it out otherwise.

"Right." Niki nodded. "Nice."

A girl walked around the end of the shelves. "Dad, is this brand okay?" Bella asked. She looked up at the men and stopped suddenly. She made an odd squeak noise.

Paul resisted the urge to grin. He had last seen her the day before. Niki glanced at him.

"Yeah, Bells. That'll do." Charlie took the packet from her hand and tossed it in the trolley. "Niki, this is my daughter, Bella. Bella, this is Paul's father, Nikiti Lahote."

"Hi." She lifted her hand and gave him a small wave. She was trying very hard not to look at Paul.

"Hello, Bella," Niki said. "Nice to meet you."

They all stood there awkwardly before Niki cleared his throat. "Right… well, we had better get back to it. Need lots of food with Paul in the house."

Paul rolled his eyes.

"See you later," Charlie said.

Bella was staring into the trolley.

As they piled their purchases into the truck, Niki spoke, "Charlie Swan's daughter? Are you insane?"

"What? I didn't do anything."

"Yeah, right. I know that look." He paused. "And doesn't she live with Leah Clearwater?"

"Yep."

"You really are insane."

* * *

Bella chatted to Leah as she unpacked her purchases. "I met Paul's father at the store today. He's in town for a week." She packed away the groceries; still talking with her head in the cupboard. "Might delay your thing."

"Yes." Leah wasn't sure if she should be disappointed or relieved. Maybe it was like pulling a band-aid off; just do it and get it done.

"I know where Paul gets his looks from. He looks just like his dad. It's funny to see a glimpse of what he will look like when he's older, huh? Or what his kids might look like." Bella knew she was inanely prattling and she could not stop herself.

She was starting to worry.

Was she just something Paul had 'done' to get out of the way before he got Leah? She was a wolf; it made sense to her that he would be more interested in Leah. She thought she and Paul had connected. But how would she know, he was literally the first guy she had ever had sex with. Did that make him different to her? He hadn't responded in any way that she could identify at the store. And why did she care who Paul liked or didn't like? She knew he was a player. That was why they had chosen him, wasn't it? Holy Crow, she was talking about what his kids would look like. That way lay madness.


	7. Chapter 7

**chapter 7**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Seth was worried. Leah had come home and stayed the night on the couch. Her bed had been moved from her room out to her and Bella's new place so it was the couch or the floor.

She was really agitated and nervous about something. He thought maybe they had a fight, but Leah wasn't saying anything. And he wasn't asking. This was Leah; bite your head off was not a metaphor for her.

* * *

Quil was on patrol. He swung past Bella and Leah's place just in case they were having sex with the curtains open. A guy could dream, right? He knew it was the middle of the night and Bella would not be doing any laundry. Worst luck!

He was hopeful when he saw the lights on, but the curtains were closed, dammit. And then he was sure that he heard Paul's voice. That was weird. What was he doing there?

* * *

Jake had bitten the bullet and had finally agreed to go on a double date with Embry.

Bella Swan hadn't wanted his heart or his body. He had finally realized that. He wasn't the type to be bitter about it. He had tried; literally with his whole heart.

Embry said he had the right girl for Jake all lined up. Jake was half aware that he was so hopeless with women that he needed his friends to get dates for him. It was embarrassing. He was waiting In the diner. Embry had gone to collect the girls.

Lily, her name was.

Sounded old fashioned.

He heard Embry coming and tried not to react until he could have humanly heard him. He glanced towards the door when it opened.

The first person through was a very tall girl. She must have been five ten, maybe more. She had short dark cropped hair, one side of which was dyed bright purple. Her exposed ear was pierced multiple times. His eyes traveled lower. She was what his father would have called statuesque. She was no skinny Minnie. She looked annoyed and a little fatigued; sullen, she looked sullen. Jake got the impression that her coming on this date was something she was not pleased about. He couldn't blame her, he felt the same. Embry had told him that he had to do some fast talking to get her to agree to come. Their last double date had been a disaster.

Embry pointed him out and then he rose to his feet slowly.

He watched her as he did it.

Jake thought that he would never forget the look on her face as he stood up. She had been prepared to be further annoyed, but it was as if the sun had risen. Her face changed from annoyed to frank admiration. Big boost for his ego.

He was a good four inches taller than Embry these days at six feet seven, so a girl who was under six feet looked short next to him.

She strode across the room to him. Kaity, Embry's girl followed him in.

"Hi," Jake said nervously.

"Ohmygawd, Embry, why didn't you suggest this guy, last time?"

"Not my fault, Lily," Embry argued. "Jake here, wasn't dating." Embry waved at him with one hand.

"Whoa! Really? Why not?" she asked Embry.

"Hey? Standing right here," Jake said.

"Yes, you are," she purred at him. "So why didn't you date?" she asked him.

Jake had no idea what to say or how much information to give a girl in the first five seconds of the first date (if this is what this was).

"Unrequited love," said Embry when Jake didn't answer.

"NO!" Lily grabbed his arm. "Who'd be dumb enough to turn you down?"

Jake and Embry exchanged a look. Embry's said 'na na na, I told you so.'

They finally took their places in the booth. Lily slid in next to Jake. "This _has_ to be better than the last one," she said quietly.

"What happened at the last date?" Jake asked her.

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh," she grunted.

"He called her a giraffe," Kaity said.

"Let me guess," chuckled Jake, "He was short."

"You got it," Lily said. "And he was ugly about it. I mean, I didn't have an issue with his height, but he did. You know?"

"You called him a hyena," Kaity said from inside the menu.

"I did not. I merely suggested that giraffes trampled hyenas sometimes. With their wicked giraffe skills."

"I hear," said Jake conversationally, "That they have really long flexible tongues, too."

He realized what he had implied the second _after_ it had come out of his mouth.

Lily burst into laughter.

Jake blushed. "I'm sorry, I can't believe I said that."

"I forgive you," she told him and patted his arm.

Lily wasn't anything like Bella Swan. She pretty much wasn't like any girl Jake had ever met. She was tall, busty, confident and funny. And Jake already liked her.

She kissed him that night and assured him that she didn't give out on the first date but that he could be certain of it on the second date. As a special treat for him. So Jake made a date with her, right then and there.

* * *

Collin and Brady were in trouble. Paul was off with his father. Sam had cut him some slack and let him off baby wolf sitting duty. With no family commitments, it was usually Paul who filled in for others; he had earned a rostered day off, or two.

Collin knew that Brady was going to blow it, some how. Brady had the biggest crush on Leah Clearwater and she was training them today.

She was beautiful, had an impressive rack, and long, shapely legs as a woman. As a wolf, she was slim, sleek and fast. And she was having sex with another girl. It was the stuff of teen boy dreams.

Collin punched him when he caught Brady staring at Leah's ass. She was lecturing them on the finer points of the pincer movement. She leaned over and drew it in the dirt for them, to demonstrate.

The only pincers Brady was imagining, were Leah's legs wrapped around his body. His pants started to tent. He let out a small whimper and that was a very bad idea, because it drew attention to it.

Getting a stiffy was an issue for the pack. It was standard behavior to just ignore it. They almost tried to pretend that others weren't naked half the time.

But today Leah was being a bitch. She seemed to know it was her influence; only girl in the pack and all.

"What did I just say, Brady?" she asked him with a wicked look on her face.

"Legs?" he guessed.

Collin winced. Wrong. And clearly a dead giveaway as to what Brady was thinking of.

Leah smacked Brady upside the head. Hard.

"Arms," she corrected.

* * *

Charlie and Sue chatted over the phone. Sue was worried that Leah had stayed the night at her place. Charlie had noted Bella's odd reaction at the store, but he didn't say anything to Sue. He was a cop; he needed all the evidence before he laid any charges.

* * *

Leah stomped home. She knew she was angry; she knew she had lost it with Brady. Paul had delayed their assignation until his dad was gone again. He wanted to do it at his place, he said, when she argued they could do it anywhere.

She just wanted it done. It was all starting to feel like the worst idea ever.

The longer he delayed, the more she thought about it; the bigger issue it became. Bella seemed okay about Leah and Paul having sex in the forest. But Leah knew she should have told her that day that Bella got upset about it, that sleeping with Bella was Paul's price for letting her peg him and had nothing to do with Bella. Bella still thought that she had forced Leah into this and the longer Leah left it, the harder it was to tell her the truth.

She just kept imagining that once it was done, it would all go back the way it was. And then she wouldn't need to tell Bella any of it. She didn't want Bella to think that Leah was unsatisfied by her, either. That she needed more sexual experiences, that Bella couldn't provide.

* * *

Bella kept thinking of Paul. She kept remembering the night they had spent together. It was now becoming tinged with the smudged camera view of memory. It looked even better in hindsight. She kept getting almost memory flashes of it. She'd be day dreaming and her thoughts would return to there.

She also kept imagining Paul and Leah together. How would they look having sex together? She thought they were both utterly gorgeous and would look amazing both naked. God, just the thought of it made her feel hot and bothered.

Then the ugly specter of her self esteem would rise. What on earth were two such gorgeous beings doing with her in the first place?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: safe sex always children! warning this chapter is a big one - but there was just nowhere to really split it evenly. So enjoy!]**

* * *

"So how do we do this?" Leah asked Paul. She stood in his living room, a back pack over her shoulder. He wasn't sure why, but he had asked her to do it at his place. Leah would be the first girl to be in his bed and he was the one being fucked; ironic. He didn't think she knew that.

"Did you want to see what I did with Bella?" he asked her before he wimped out and ran like Leah had the other night.

Leah inhaled deeply. "She smelt like you for days. Exactly how many times **did** you fuck her?"

Paul chuckled. "Come on. The first time is pretty much going 'ouch'. So I had to make it good for her."

"Uh, huh." She echoed his usual phrase.

"Well," he suggested, "if we both phase, that takes care of the naked part."

"I'll leave my bag here."

He looked at it, but didn't ask.

They headed out to the forest to phase. Just inside the tree line, Paul stopped and slipped his cut-offs down. Leah inhaled. It was stupid to be nervous about this. Especially if she was going to be fucking him soon.

"Think of it as foreplay," Paul suggested. He didn't close his eyes and he didn't try to give her any privacy to get undressed. He did manage to keep his hands away from his own dick, so she thought she ought to be thankful for that. She undressed, hopefully as seemingly unconcerned as he had been.

He gave her an eye fuck. She supposed she deserved that.

"Show me," she ordered.

They both phased. They waited to check if anyone else was on patrol. Luckily not.

Wolf Paul sat carefully on his haunches and wrapped his tail around his body. He closed his eyes. He looked very calm.

Wolf Leah stalked back and forth in front of him; her tail swishing angrily.

_Ready? _he asked.

_Not really._

He chuckled.

_Right. Here goes._

He showed her Bella. **Her** Bella, with his big, dark hands on her. Man hands with thick knuckles and prominent veins. It was an odd recollection, not a complete memory. It skipped parts and jumped forward in time but came in senso-round, with smell and taste. She supposed they didn't want to be there all night. If he had spent all night fucking her girl.

_Not __**all**__ night, _he commented. _We did get some sleep._

She huffed.

Oddly he was sharing the whole memory with her. How it felt for him to fuck someone. It was a bit of a bonus for her. Part of her reason for wanting to peg him, was to experience it; to see how it felt to penetrate someone else, like one of the guys. And Paul showed her everything. Everything! Even the string of condom packets on the side table.

_Got to be certain that there were no little wolfies._

_Huh. _She hadn't even thought about that. She had to give him credit for that.

Bella was nervous and scared to kiss him. Leah blamed herself; she had made Bella feel more tense. Leah felt her heart beat nervously, too. He had calmed her down and kept touching her. She saw Bella's hands sliding his shirt off; traveling up his bare skin. It jumped to the bedroom. She saw Paul's hands starting to peel her out of her clothes. Then it jumped to his fingers embedded inside her, her head flung back, moaning. His mouth locked around one of her breasts.

_Had to make sure she was wet._

Wolf Leah whimpered when he pushed into Bella. She could tell how worried Bella was. She knew the signs; Bella bit at her lip and she got a little frown mark between her eyebrows.

_She warmed up a bit later._

A flash of his hand on her thigh, holding her and pulling her gently onto him. And then it was like the most extreme porn movie she had ever watched because she _felt_ it. And because she knew Bella so well; she could tell how close she was by the way she tossed her head and clenched her fists; pressing her own fingernails into her hands.

_She curls her toes too, Paul added._

_Yeah, she does._

But because it was Paul's memory, she felt him fuck Bella. She felt Bella clamp around his cock when she orgasmed. She heard her breath come in little panting noises as he thrust into her. His body slapping into Bella's and jolting her. Then it seemed to speed up. Now he was underneath and Bella was riding him. Her hair flung forward and covering her face. Then she was kissing him. Her hands clamped on the side of his head and her fingers tangled in his hair. Her tongue in Paul's mouth. Then she was helping him put on a condom; her hands stroking down his erect cock.

Then she was flat on her stomach and crucified under him as he entered her from behind. Bella was moaning continuously and her body was tense with excitement. The sharp semen smell was everywhere.

_**Enough!**__ she said._

_You sure?_

_I'm sure. I'm surprised you didn't shove yourself into her mouth until she gagged._

_Come on, Leah. I wouldn't do that to her. _He sounded annoyed with her. _The point of the exercise was to make sure she had a good time, wasn't it? _

_She __**had**__ a good time._ Now Leah sounded annoyed.

He was smug now. _Yes, she did. More than once. _He sounded very pleased with himself.

_So did you._

_Yes. _He was unapologetic.

She almost picked up an undercurrent of something else she couldn't identify.

_She washed the sheets in vinegar before I got home. And emptied the trash._

_She would. She's thoughtful like that. We probably should have done it at my place, _he conceded._ Sorry about that._

_You both got a little carried away._

A shrug. He didn't deny it.

_Okay. Now what?_

_We have to phase back._

_Duh._

She didn't answer him, just phased back, collected her clothes and jogged back to the house. The screen door slammed behind her.

She felt weird. Watching that memory had excited her because it felt as if she was a part of it. She picked up her backpack and headed for his bedroom. She heard him follow her in. He hadn't bothered to get dressed either.

He had changed the sheets. They smelt clean and like laundry powder. She noticed. She blinked.

He threw himself on the bed. He sniffed a little. She knew that he would know that she was aroused. She resisted the urge to rub her thighs together. He watched her with those eyes.

She stared back at him, reached for the bag and upended it over the bed. The paraphernalia fell out: the dildo, the set of straps, and a couple of tubes of lube. She was trying to unnerve him; it was juvenile and she couldn't help it.

He raised an eyebrow. "I've got lube."

"This is special anal lube."

"Got that, too."

"Of course you do."

"You want a round later?"

"No, thank you."

Silence.

He spoke, "You have to look at me sometime."

She huffed. "I'm annoyed." She was still standing at the foot of the bed. And she was still not looking at him.

"No. You're excited." He scooted closer to her. "You can have a good time too," he suggested.

"What makes you think it's gonna be enjoyable for you?" she snarked.

He snorted. "Coz one thing you are is fair. And I looked after Bella."

She looked at him, now.

He tilted his head. "Christ! Don't tell me I have to seduce you, too."

She ignored him. She picked up the harness. Lifted her foot up onto the bed and started strapping herself into it.

He watched her do it. "Four point harness?"

"The lady in the shop recommended it. She said the others slip."

He nodded. She picked up the anatomically correct dildo and fitted it into the hole at the front of the harness. She tightened the straps around her thighs and then stood in profile. "How do I look?" she asked him.

He looked her up and down. "That's not eight inches."

She laughed. "No. I took it easy on you."

"Right." He sounded sarcastic.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh come on. Don't I get any foreplay? Or are you just gonna fuck me in the ass? I think I deserve a reach around. Huh, Leah?"

Stupidly, she hadn't thought of that. She looked shocked.

He tilted his head and grinned at her.

"But I'm all strapped in," she blustered.

"We'll work around it." He jigged his head at her. "Bring your ass and your rubber dick over here."

When she didn't move, he slid to the end of the bed and stood up, right in front of her. He moved in very close to her. She felt her heart rate change.

"A kiss," he said. "Come on. You're not Bella." His hands closed around her breasts. "You're _really_ not Bella." Bella always worried about her tits compared to Leah's, clearly Paul had noticed, too.

He pushed his face into her neck, still holding her breasts and she felt his lips brush across the skin of her neck. His thumbs rubbed over the top of her nipples. They ached. She wanted to run. For just a second she thought that if she ran now, her future would be different. This was that water shed moment when you thought that things were going to change; even if you couldn't see how.

She closed her eyes. She let her hands lift and reach for him. Her fingers touched him and stroked down the flesh of his back. He kissed down her neck. His hands closed around her thighs and he just lifted her straight up in the air so that her breasts were level with his face. She could feel the harness and the dildo squashed between them. He opened his mouth wide. She watched him, fascinated. His hand pressed in the center of her back and he tried to get her whole breast into his mouth. He made a groan noise in the back of his throat as he worked at her; nibbling and sucking hard until she could feel her nipple stretch in his mouth.

She slid her hand into the hair at the back of his neck, holding him onto her. She felt his teeth press into her flesh. She lifted her legs and tried to wrap them around him.

He released her breast. "Fuck! That thing is in the way."

"Welcome to my world," she joked.

He smiled at her. Then, he dropped her to her feet. She slid down the front of his body and their faces ended up extremely close. He winced. She guessed the harness had scratched him. She looked into his eyes.

They stared at each other.

She closed the gap; she kissed him. A brush of lips initially, until something between them just snapped. And then her world became lips, tongue, teeth and hands. He dug his long fingers under the harness and into her. She felt her back hit the bed. His mouth was back at her breast and his fingers burrowed into her. She clasped his head to her body and arched against him. She hadn't done this for so long.

She orgasmed; shuddering and gasping under him. God, she was losing it. She was supposed to be fucking _him_. He was seconds away from tearing the harness off and just fucking her. She could tell. She wrapped her hand around his balls and tugged to get his attention.

He blinked and looked down at her.

"Are we going to do this?" she asked him seductively.

He shook his head as if to clear it. "Yeah. I suppose."

"Is your wolf okay if you lie down below me? No dominance issue? Or do you need to stand?"

Paul looked as if he was thinking. "No. He's okay with this." He leered at her. "He likes you."

"He might not, when I've finished with you."

"I wouldn't bet on it," he muttered.

She sat up and patted the bed next to her. "Face down."

Paul looked at her but knelt at the foot of the bed. Her wolf liked seeing him bow down before her. He stretched his arms down the bed next to her. His back looked muscled and broad. She shivered.

He knew it. "Don't get distracted, now," he hummed at her.

"Just looking," she defended.

She climbed over and straddled him, sitting low on his hips. She ran her hands along his back. He folded his arms and put them under his head. He still felt tense to her; his muscles held tight. She massaged his shoulders a little in an attempt to loosen him up.

She leaned across and grabbed the lube, placing it closer to them. She tried to reach under him but realized she didn't have enough room to give him a hand job. "You have to move back a little, if you want your reach around."

He chuckled, but shifted backwards on his knees; taking her with him. His arms and shoulders rested on the edge of the mattress.

"That's it," she crooned at him. She rubbed and massaged his back. Working her hands in long strokes down to his ass and back up again. He started to relax. She leaned down and kissed his skin. She did it again. She kissed and licked her way down to his ass. She shifted so that she was kneeling behind him now. She wasn't sure what order to do this in. Should she lube up, and then lose half of it rubbing off on everything else? She reached around to cover his cock head with her hand.

She was admiring his ass and half thinking that he had looked after her already. She wasn't processing it, but the next thing she pushed his thigh up and out a bit and buried her face between his butt cheeks.

He jolted. "Fuck!"

She was a wolf, she ate vampires. It was no stretch to flat tongue across his asshole. She felt it shift and pucker reflexively. Her hand reached around and closed around his cock. She used his own leaking ejaculate as lube; collecting it and running her hand up and down the length of him.

"Fuck, Leah. You'll finish me off."

She made some unintelligible noise into him. She hoped it indicated that it didn't matter. He'd be good to go again. Christ, how many times had he fucked Bella in one night?

She nipped at him and he groaned. She made it her new aim to make him lose it; big time. She used one hand to push his butt and open him out more. He shifted his leg for her.

Her other hand stroked his hard length slowly. She poked her tongue out and pushed at him.

"Oh, fuuuck."

_Yeah. Like that Lahote. Let's hear you beg._ She went to work on him now. Then she remembered what Bella liked and she growled into him. She felt his body jolt again. His stomach pressed against her hand as he gasped for breath. She breathed out through her nose and he must have felt it gust onto him. He moaned.

She could smell his come; he was so close. She slid her free hand under him and went for his balls. She just pulled at them, she wasn't co-ordinated enough to do much else, but it seemed to be enough.

"Oh, fuck… oh, Jesus… Leah…"

She growled into him again.

"Oh, yes… just like that… fuck yeah." He almost sobbed it. And then he lost it. "Fuck fuck fuck." He shuddered and came all over her hand. She gave him a couple of finishing strokes before letting him go. She sat back, watching the muscles of his back twitch.

"Fuck," he whispered.

She reached for the lube. Lubed up the dildo and put the excess on his ass. He was definitely more relaxed now.

She pushed at him with her lubricated finger, sliding inside. She managed to get it to knuckle depth before the muscle seized and held it. He was still too tight. She dragged it out, fighting him the whole way. "Come on, Paul," she encouraged.

"Hey, be gentle with me. I'm a virgin," he quipped.

"More lube," she said. She tried again, sliding down his crack and slipping inside again.

He made a noise; a small growl that sounded like he had his teeth gritted.

"Relax," she encouraged. She leaned forward and licked up his back, capturing his sweat with her tongue. He moaned. She teased him; her finger circling, pressing, dipping, always pressing at him until the muscle released and he let her in. More work to get a second finger in.

"You cut your nails," he said.

"Stop talking and feel," she ordered. She nipped him on the side just as she would have chastised a younger wolf.

He grunted something unintelligible.

Nipping at him gave her an image of her teeth sunk into his flesh. She shook her head to get rid of it. She concentrated on him. She curled her fingers inside him.

"Oh shit," he said and then he pushed back at her.

Ha. "Found your sweet spot, huh?"

"Oh, Christ."

She shoved harder inside him and his whole body twitched. She worked her fingers into him; twisting and trying to scissor inside him. The muscle fought her; clenching and pushing at the intrusion.

His head hung down and he was panting.

She finally slid out and added some more lube. She rubbed it into him; soothing and lubricating. Then she readied the dildo. Held it in her hand and pushed the head into the opening. "You ready?" she asked.

"No."

Then she had a thought. When he had shown her the memory of him fucking Bella, she could feel what he could sense. With the dildo she couldn't feel. She couldn't tell if she was hurting him. "You need to tell me if it hurts and I'll stop."

He didn't answer her.

"Paul?"

"Just do it, Leah. Just fuck me."

"I don't want to hurt you," she protested.

"Come on, Leah… just do it."

She pushed forward a touch and he shoved back at the same time. She watched the dildo disappear inside him.

"Ungh," he said. Teeth gritted again.

She poured more lube down his ass crack. Another slide back and push forward. His shoulders were trembling, but he hadn't said 'stop'. She kept pushing steadily forward and more of it disappeared. She was fascinated by the image. She leaned back and rolled her hips forward, watching again. She was starting to get the feel of the harness and the way she needed to move her hips. She did it again.

He moaned.

She sank her fingers into the flesh of his back. She felt so powerful. She let out a long, low growl. Her inner wolf wanted to bite him. She wanted to hold him down with her teeth around his neck and fuck him.

"Don't you dare," he said, as if he knew what she was thinking.

"Don't what?"

"Mark me... and I'll …kill you," he panted out.

It crossed her mind that she should have tied his hands somehow, but he would never have let her do it. She hauled back slowly and sank forward again. The muscle was loosening up and she could feel less drag against the harness.

He stretched his arms above his head, clenching the sheets with his hands.

"There?" she asked him, as she shunted into him. "You need to tell me when I hit your sweet spot."

"O-okay."

She made another hip roll and she was all the way in, now. "Oh, yeah," she groaned.

He didn't really need to tell her when she hit it. His whole body jerked and he let out a shout.

"You liked that?" she asked.

"Y-yes." It sounded like a confession.

His hands were still clenched in the sheets.

She bent low over his back. "Give me that cock, Lahote," she growled at him.

"Yesss," he hissed.

She reached under him and grabbed him. He was hard again and leaking. She timed it with another thrust and he gritted his teeth and grunted into the mattress.

She held him firmly now; one hand on his hip, the other wrapped around his cock and she fucked him. He was still wet and her hand was still covered in lube and she jerked him off hard. She worked over his body, thrusting into him. She made a few more strokes and then he shouted as she hit that spot and his body almost jack-knifed as he came in her hand.

They were both panting. Her thighs trembled and her ass muscles ached. Her face was pressed onto his heaving back. She grabbed his balls and gave him an extra squeeze and he growled at her.

She rose up and eased carefully backward, pulling the dildo out of him. She undid the harness and threw it on the floor. He was lying face down on the bed. She lay back down on top of his back and put her face near his ear. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm good. Just give me a chance."

She lay there, breathing with him for a minute. She nipped his ear; she couldn't help it.

He grabbed her and threw her further up onto the bed onto her back. He moved after her and held her down with his body. He stared into her eyes. He was still breathing heavily.

"What about you?" he asked.

"Me, what?"

"You need finishing off, Leah?"

"That wasn't part of the deal."

He didn't answer her but just wriggled his fingers in front of her face. "No cock." He tilted his head. "At least… not today."

Oh, that was right; she had promised that. An outside fuck.

She stared at him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Leah … you smell like you need it." He sniffed. "You should have gone the internal vibrator for you."

"Next time," she threatened.

He chuckled. He stared into her eyes and he let his hand trail down her body. It deliberately passed over one of her nipples. She didn't stop him. She even shifted her hips a little to allow him to slide between her legs.

"So wet," he crooned. "So excited."

It was her turn to grunt unintelligibly, now as he fucked her with his fingers. He kept staring at her as his hand worked into her. He had two fingers inside her and his thumb pressed on her clitoris and she could no longer keep her eyes open. And then, when she wasn't looking, he kissed her.


	9. Chapter 9

**chapter 9**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

When Leah came back to herself, Paul was still above her, staring at her intently. They were both sweating, now. She felt that post-orgasm relaxation; ultimate stress relief for her. He smelt good to her wolf. And she hated it.

"Get off me," she snapped.

He moved. He didn't argue, smirk or make some witty wisecrack.

She stood and looked around. "Now, where did I put my clothes?" She was talking to herself, but Paul fetched them for her. He stood in front of her with his head down and handed them to her. Their hands touched as he passed them across.

"Did you want to stay?" he asked quietly.

"No." After a pause she added, "Thanks." It seemed churlish not to say thanks.

"Okay." A head nod. "Do you need a shower first?"

She frowned. "Ummm."

"You don't want to smell like me when you go home," he pointed out.

"Bella's not a wolf; she can't smell that."

"No. But she knows what sex smells like."

"I suppose." What was he doing? He was being very unlike Paul.

"It's okay. I will leave you alone in there," he added hastily, as if he had picked up on her concern.

"Okay. Just a quick shower, then."

He got her a clean towel.

She was completely weirded out. This wasn't like Paul. He should have thrown the towel at her, made some snarky joke about scent and towels or tried to follow her into the shower. She thought about it. And then she had an awful realization. She knew exactly who he was behaving like - Brady. The smallest and weakest of the wolf pack. Paul was being submissive to her. Wow.

Maybe that wasn't so bad?

Her ego swelled. She was Leah Clearwater and she was a fucking alpha female wolf. **Yeah**.

A small internal voice added, _who was going home to her human lover._

Her human, _**female**_ lover.

When she had dried and dressed, she came out of the bathroom to find him standing there, also dressed and holding her backpack.

"I cleaned it for you," he said.

The dildo. Fuck. She had forgotten about that. "Thanks."

She stood there indecisively.

He took a tiny step closer to her.

"The harness and the dildo…" she stopped.

"You can't take them home," he suggested.

"No. Bella will find it in one of her mad house cleaning sprees." And she didn't even know how to begin explaining that one to her.

He nodded. He knew Bella. "Leave it here."

"That's okay?"

"Sure."

"Okay." She rifled around in the pack, found the harness and the dildo and handed them over to him.

She felt better now that his hands were full. "Thanks for looking after Bella."

"It was my pleasure."

"Right."

He dipped his head but looked up at her. "Thanks for looking after me."

She smiled. "It was _my_ pleasure… as well."

"I know." A small smirk. A tiny glimpse of the real Paul.

"I should go," she said.

"Yes."

Just as she got to the front door, he called out.

"Leah?"

She stopped.

"When? Next time," he pressed. "The forest?"

She sighed. She wanted to say 'no' but she had used him to fulfill her fantasy; she owed him. And he had looked after Bella.

She wanted it over as soon as possible. "Tomorrow? You around?"

"Later. Just before dinner. Come here first?"

"Yes."

He nodded. "Might work up an appetite." More of the real Paul.

"Okay then."

She left.

* * *

Paul wanted to smack himself in the head.

"For fuck's sake," he swore aloud. "Why didn't you just roll on your back at her feet and expose your soft underbelly?"

He did remember a line he had heard somewhere: 'Sometimes, when you roll on your back, you get your belly scratched.' She'd scratched his belly all right. He had enjoyed that way more than he thought possible. He had a new appreciation for foreplay, for a start. No wonder girls needed it.

She had really done him over well. Fuck, it was actually intense; so intense that he was glad of the day to recover. He didn't normally think like that, either. He was always up for sex.

Until Leah Clearwater had fucked him.

And next time, it was his turn.

Fuck, yeah!

And hopefully, by then he would have got his stupid wolf back under control. "Christ, she said fetch and you rushed off to get her clothes for her."

* * *

Bella was asleep. Leah could tell by her breathing pattern. She was curled up with a book open on her chest. Reading again.

Leah woke her up. She needed to.

"Hey," Bella mumbled at her, with a tired smile.

"Are you okay?"

"Tired. Stock-take. I haven't moved so many boxes in my life." She yawned hugely. "Come to bed."

"I just need to brush my teeth."

When she got back Bella was asleep again. Sprawled across Leah's side of the bed. The book was on the side table with a receipt as a bookmark.

Leah turned the lights off and slid in next to her. Shifting her around to get comfortable.

Bella made small, snuffly sounds at being moved. Leah held her close.

Breathing her in.

She had told Bella that she was doing wolf stuff. It was partially true. But she had to tell her that the forest sex was happening tomorrow night, before she did it. She had to; this keeping secrets thing was eating at her. She wasn't sure that she had a right to tell her about pegging Paul, but should she just tell her that she had already had sex with him? Bella had done it with him. Fuck! She didn't know what to do. Fucking Paul; having him be submissive to her had made her feel so powerful.

But now she had crashed back to earth.

Her wolf had wanted to bite Paul. Leave her teeth imprints on his neck, fuck him hard and mark him.

Why?

She had never wanted to do that to Bella. Bite her like that. She had never wanted to fuck Bella in the ass with a strap on. Was it because Bella was human? She knew she couldn't take that kind of treatment. Paul was a wolf, he could take it. He had admitted that he had enjoyed what she had done to him.

Paul had been weird, but then another realization struck her._ So had __**she**__._

This wasn't how she behaved. She didn't know what was going on. Was it her wolf? Was she unhappy?

She had left him the paraphernalia. She hadn't just thrown it away. She had made a joke about using an internal vibrator next time.

Next time.

She was freaking herself out.

She held Bella even tighter. She made a mumbled complaint in her sleep; a small grizzle.

Watching and experiencing that memory of Paul and Bella together had unnerved Leah. She knew they had been together; she had even arranged it. But to see it like that? With all the details and from Paul's point of view. And worse, the wolf memory was even **her** idea, if she remembered it correctly. She had suggested it. She had no idea it would be so intense.

She had wanted Bella to have sex with a guy. She had wanted her to get it out of her system, but now she was not sure she could get that memory out of hers. She had a feeling that Bella would not have let herself go quite as much, if Leah had been there. She guessed that she would never know, now. She was desperately jealous. Jealous that Bella had so obviously enjoyed herself. Terrified that she might want to do it again. And where did that leave Leah? She couldn't lose her lover again. She pretended to be invincible, but she didn't think she was strong enough to survive it. Not again.

How had this crap all started? Bella. Bella wondering about guys and Leah trying to do the right thing by her.

She was glad that she had taken the offer of a shower; she would have hated to come home reeking of him.

She lay awake for too long; her mind full of images of what she had done to Paul and what he had done to Bella. Her Bella. With his big hands on her. Going places that she couldn't go. Doing things to Bella that she couldn't do.

* * *

Paul was standing in the shower. Thinking. He often thought in the shower. He could not believe how much self control it took to not just fuck Leah. He had nearly lost it more than once in that session.

He had known when she wanted to bite him, and there was no way he was letting her do that. It was enough to let her fuck him. He had to admit it, though; he had enjoyed that. He didn't think letting another guy do it was on the cards, but Leah was all woman. She smelt like it, felt like it, fucked like it. He was lucky in one sense, that she really hadn't gone for it. She could have hurt him. She had even bought a smaller dildo. All kinds of thoughtful.

And he'd got his reach around, too. His cock twitched at the thought. He absentmindedly grabbed it in his hand and stroked slowly.

She'd surprised him with the rim-job, as well. In fact, he thought she'd surprised herself with that one. His inner wolf loved it.

"Yeah, yeah," he said out loud. "Your turn next."

* * *

Both girls had work the next day.

Leah grabbed her at breakfast; hugging her fiercely.

"What's the matter with you?" Bella asked.

"I have something to tell you."

Bella looked a little panicked.

"The forest sex… we are going to do it tonight."

"Oh," she sounded relieved. "Okay."

A pause.

"Can I watch?" she asked again.

"No."

"You won't let me watch?"

"No." Not negotiable.

"I don't think he will hurt you," Bella argued. "I think you are being unnecessarily cautious."

Leah shrugged. "I do not know what he is capable of." Wasn't _that_ the truth.

"You'll be hungry afterward. I'll cook. Tell Paul to come back, too."

"You want to feed him?" Leah wanted to snap that it wasn't a social occasion, but then Bella kept talking.

"He'll be hungry as well and I've fed him before. He used to come over all the time." Bella's face looked sad.

"Yes, he used to," Leah almost growled. He hadn't been over to the house since he and Bella were together. But the look on Bella's face. She had missed him.


	10. Chapter 10

**chapter 10**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: Warning - these two are going to hit each other about and then fuck. Might be trigger stuff for some people. And they will be wolves for a little bit. It is kind of important to the story line as a few of you have already picked.]**

* * *

Leah's stomach was a roiling mass of nerves all day. She went straight from work to Paul's place. She didn't want to see Bella and she hated herself for thinking like that. Bella knew about it this time; she wasn't keeping this one a secret. Then she thought that Bella might be annoyed with her about the other time. If she found out.

Maybe she just wasn't as good as Bella was at sharing. She didn't like Bella missing Paul, and yet, she was the one fucking him. Leah was a mass of contradictions at the minute.

She yipped in the forest, behind his house and knew that Paul would hear her. He came out shirtless.

"You need to bring a shirt… for later."

"Later?"

"Bella invited you for dinner."

He grinned. "Did she, now?"

She glared at him.

He darted into the house to get one. She noticed that it was the same button-up shirt he had worn the night he and Bella were together. It was a deliberate reminder. It had to be. As if she could forget the image of Bella's hands pushing it off his shoulders. Jerk-wad. He had to know.

She turned and jogged off into the forest.

He didn't say anything; just followed her. He seemed to have lost the submissive behavior. He was the old Paul, tonight. Annoying.

"Here will do," he said once they were far enough away from the houses. She stopped.

She felt him walk quietly up behind her. She jumped away when he tried to put his arms around her waist.

His voice was low and quiet, "You gonna take those off, or do you need some help?"

"Jeez, don't I get foreplay?" she snarked. Oddly echoing what he had said to her, the last time.

"A kiss?" he asked.

"No."

"I don't mind foreplay, but you still need to take your clothes off." He took the shirt off and hung it from a tree branch. His shorts followed after he had pulled his runners off. He turned back and she was still clothed. He tilted his head.

"Come on, Leah. I'll give you a hand."

Another flash of his hands on Bella. She shook her head.

He was a great physical specimen; even for a pack boy. And he knew it, of course. He knew she was looking, as well.

"Would you prefer the back view?" he teased.

"Stop it."

"Get your clothes off, Leah. I did my half of this deal."

She huffed out a breath. "Dumb-ass," she grumbled.

"And you liked my ass."

She deliberately put her clothes on a different tree.

He noticed and chuckled.

He closed in on her. She slipped away from him.

"How rough did you want it?" she asked.

"How rough can you go?"

He gave up trying to hold her. Now he shoved her, pushing at her and almost hitting her. "Come on, Leah," he encouraged.

"What?"

"Get angry. It'll help."

"What? Why?"

"I want you to."

"That's not hard. You always piss me off, Lahote."

He chuckled. "So come on, then."

"You're trying to get me to phase," she realized.

"Yeah. **Duh**."

"You want to have sex as **wolves**?" She was astonished. **That** had never occurred to her. She was an idiot.

"It'll be awesome."

"You didn't say that," she protested.

"I didn't think I needed to. You're a smart girl, Leah. I thought you'd think of that yourself. And I **did** say outside in the forest and it would be rough. What did you think we were going to be doing? Leaf pressing?"

She inhaled deeply and didn't answer him. That put a completely different spin on the encounter. It actually intrigued her. Her wolf was very interested.

"Given you wanted to fuck me. I thought you might like to be inside my head while I fuck you," he suggested. "Then you can get the full experience. And I reckon your wolf might enjoy it."

Damn. He was the devil on her shoulder, he really was. How did he know?

"You were dropped on the head as a baby, Lahote."

"Probably." He shrugged.

He grabbed her and held her hard by the top of the arms. Her instincts were to fight him. She wriggled out of his grasp. She growled.

He growled back at her.

She hit him. She hauled back, fast and hard, and punched him in the jaw.

He hit her back. And he went for the gut. She oofed out a breath.

Then it was on. She was quick, but Paul was strong. They stayed human. They kicked, scratched, bit and growled at each other. Smashing through trees and undergrowth. It occurred to her to grab him by the balls but it seemed self-defeating given they came here to fuck. He was excited by the fight, though. Clearly.

He seemed to be trying to get her down onto the ground. Under him she supposed.

He kept talking. Puffing, as he encouraged her and fought with her. Typical Paul, really. "Come on… Leah… try it… come on… just this once… both wolves… no one else can do it… let me fuck you … come on, Leah."

He was winning the fight and the argument. She was distracted. And it was oddly erotic. Naked wrestling. She also knew that he was right; her wolf wanted it.

"You up for it?" he checked between puffs and grunts. He had caught her. He was behind her, his arms locked around her upper body and pinning her arms to her sides.

"Yeah. Okay."

"How? I don't trust you. If I let you go, I reckon you'll run, when you phase."

"I won't run. On the count of three?"

"Right. One," he said. His arms tightened around her chest where he was holding her. He really didn't trust her.

"Two," she added.

"Three," they said together.

They both phased. Paul was still on top of her. His wolf was bigger than hers. His wolf teeth quickly clamped onto the back of her neck. She paused long enough to think how to escape him and if she even needed to, when he thrust at her. She held her tail helpfully out of the way for him. The next push he made it inside her.

It was indescribable. He held her down and fucked her just the way that she had imagined doing it to him.

_Leah: Oh my god._

_Paul: Yes!_

She felt his triumph. His joy. **This** was the only thing that made him happy anymore.

He moved inside her and she thought how different sex was with men. She loved Bella and she felt guilty that she was here with a man. But then her body started to wind up as their excitement levels increased.

Love and sex and pleasure all combined in their heads. His emotions shared with hers in her head. She felt him filling her, pushing her own excitement levels up with his, until they were all tangled together in their heads. Like a repeated pleasure loop that played back and forth and wound higher and higher. It was completely and utterly overwhelming. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think. She broke first.

_Leah: It's too much! Stop!_

He stopped. He tried to pull away from her and then panicked when he couldn't.

_Fuck!_

She started to panic, too and then **that** started to repeat and build.

_Leah, __**Leah**__. __**Stop**__! _It was almost an order; she flailed against it.

He bit her neck again and all the fight went out of her. She stopped. Wolf instinct. He was the dominant now.

They panted for breath; lungs and heart straining. Panic causing an adrenaline rush.

_Paul: I'm stuck. I can't pull out._

_What the fuck?_

_Can't you feel it?_

_Oh, Jesus._ Now he had said it, he felt much, much larger at the base. As if he had developed a plug._ That feels truly weird._

_Shit. Wolf sex. _

_Oh, man._

They had all laughed when Quil had been perving on real wolves having sex. A young, lone male had snuck in and mounted a female, but panicked when they got locked together and he couldn't get away. They each tried to run in different directions; locked together at the pelvis.

They both remembered it now. It had taken twenty minutes for the wolf couple to pull apart. Quil, the pervert, had timed it.

_Leah: Too fucking late to remember it __**now**__._

_We can get out of this-_

She thought about how she'd **like** to get out of it.

_-Without ripping my dick off_, he added.

_Why not?_

_Bella would miss it. _He sounded sure of himself.

He tried not to think about it, but she got a glimpse of his memory of that evening, before he slammed the doors down on it.

_Leah: You like her._

_Yeah. She's okay. _ A grudging confession.

_You were really gentle with her. Thanks for that._

_She deserved a good first time. She's been through enough shit._

_I agree with you on that. _She slammed the doors down on her own feelings of confusion and guilt; and Bella.

_Now, we got ourselves into this, we can get ourselves out. _

That actually applied to more than them being stuck together.

_Dick jammed. You and your freaky sex ideas._

_Hey, your ideas were pretty freaky too. And you were up for it. Still are. _He shifted inside her a little. She tried not to think about how good it felt, in case that pleasure spiral started off again.

_I'd be up for it. Locked inside you for twenty minutes._

_You would. Count of three, again?_

_Okay. Are you calm enough to phase back?_

She moved a little and he groaned. _O-one._

_Two_

_Three._

They phased back to human. She arched her back and tried to throw him off, but he was still on top of her and he held her down again.

"Fuck!" she swore.

"Yep. That's what we're here for."

She groaned in frustration.

"You enjoyed it. I know you did. I saw inside your head," he whispered to her. His face right in her ear. His lips brushing against her skin.

"Don't forget," she pointed out. "I saw inside yours, too."

"I know." He withdrew and slid back into her. "Oh that's better. I hate not having room to move. Let's finish this."

"Shut up and fuck me, Lahote."

"Yes, ma'am."

She snorted. As if he ever did what he was told?

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "How rough did you want it, Clearwater?"

"Can't do much with my face in the dirt," she pointed out.

"No, that's true." He made another sliding movement before pulling out of her and lifting his body off her back, and rising to his feet. She rolled over a little and looked up at him. He reached out a hand, she took it and he hauled her to her feet.

She kept going. She jumped him. Pushed him hard; knocking him backwards, down onto the forest floor on his spine. She rode him down and by the time he'd hit the dirt his cock was buried inside her again; she'd made sure of it.

His initial grunt turned into a growl of appreciation. "I like it when you make up your mind."

"Is this what you like?" she asked him as she rode him. "Huh?"

"Yeah." He looked up at her. He looked at her as if she was a god; his face full of wonder and admiration. "Look at you. You look wild, feral." His hands reached up and clenched around each of her breasts. He squeezed, hard.

She grunted, now. She sank her nails into his chest and raked them down. She could smell blood. She got what he meant now; she didn't have to be gentle with him, either. She slammed herself down onto him and he took it. She was not going to break his pelvis. It was so different to sex with human guys. They were the same body temperature for a start.

She rode him until it wasn't enough and then she ground her clitoris onto him. His hands shifted to hold her at the thighs and he helped hold her there. Then his hand snaked down between them and stroked her. He knew exactly where.

"Yes. Right there," she moaned. She flung her head back and came, hard. "Paul!" she shouted.

He sat up, grabbed her at the neck and kissed her before she had finished thrashing on him.

When she quietened, he lifted them both, rolled them over and put his shoulder under her thigh. He opened her out wide and then thrust back into her. And then he fucked her. He pounded her, at a jack hammer pace and he didn't stop until she was wailing under him.

She lost track of time. She didn't know how long they had been there. The sweat was dripping off them both. She had raked him with her nails and had bitten at his chest; tasting his blood in her mouth. Her thigh muscle burned from the angle he held her at. She clutched at his face; pulling him toward her mouth and licking the sweat from his forehead. He growled but let her leg slide off his shoulder. He licked her in return. His mouth traveling until it met hers. Lips, teeth and tongues together.

"Paul," she whimpered, as she felt the start of another curling orgasm.

"I've gotcha, Leah. Let it go," he told her. He continued to thrust into her, but he added a lift at the end. Push, lift, withdraw and repeat.

"Paul." Her voice rose at the end. She grabbed at his biceps. Her back arched under him.

"Yeah. Like that."

"Oh, fuck… oh, fuck…"

"Yeah, Leah. Like that."

She lifted her hips to meet his thrusts and they crashed together. Both grunting with the effort. Her hands moved to hold his back, sliding through the sweat and feeling the muscles bunch and shift. She slid low and raked his ass with her nails. He let out a shout, drove into her and stayed there. He stared into her eyes.

She watched his face as he orgasmed; his eyes closing slowly in his ecstasy.

He collapsed onto her.

She lifted a foot over his thigh and tucked it underneath his leg; holding him into her.

He nuzzled into her neck, making a low humming noise. He went to lift off her and she clutched at him. "Just stay there for a minute."

"Okay."

Silence.

Their breathing returned to normal.

Paul spoke first, "That was…" he stopped.

"You were right."

"Uh-huh."

"It was very different."

"Better."

"Yeah," she agreed. It really was. Or was it just him?

He lifted up a little onto his elbows. She let him go. He touched his pec. "Jeez woman. Not so much on the teeth next time."

She had bitten him pretty hard. He was healing, though. She felt her own neck, it seemed to be unmarked. Hang on… "Next time?"

He grinned at her. "You'll be back."

She snorted. "Or you'll beg." She moved under him to remind him.

He nodded. Without a trace of irony, he added, "Yep. I would. That was **awesome**."

"You called me, Leah," she pointed out.

"You called me, Paul." He grinned. "Shouted it to the treetops, actually."

"Yeah, right," she disagreed.

"Did too."

"Don't get cocky," she said.

He grinned again. "But you like my cock. In fact, it's still inside you."

"I'll smack you."

"Then we'll go again, eh?"

Jesus. He probably could, too. "Bella will be worried."

"Right." He gave her a look that made it obvious that she hadn't said 'no'. He kissed her quickly and climbed off her. Helping her to her feet.

"Can I have a shower?" he asked.

"You inviting yourself back?"

He just grinned again. "Aren't I already invited?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine," she huffed. "Yes, Bella invited you to eat, and knowing Bella she's probably cooked for an army of wolves, anyway."

They made their way back to where they had left their clothes and got dressed. She gave him a look when he still insisted on going home with her.

"What? She invited me."

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

He grinned at her. "Like you said, Bella's already cooked for us. I even brought a shirt; as requested. I know she has rules about shirts at the dinner table."

Her eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure what he was up to now. Self-interest, as always. Maybe she should have thought of that a long time ago.


	11. Chapter 11

**chapter 11**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

They walked in the door of the kitchen and Bella had a fit.

"Oh, my God. Look at you two. Covered in bruises." She threw herself at Leah. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you?" she demanded as she hugged her. Her hands running over her body, looking for serious injuries.

"Hurt me? No."

"See! I told you," Bella whispered triumphantly.

Paul followed her in the door. Bella hesitated to approach him. She still wasn't sure what he thought about her.

He took up a position leaning his back against the kitchen counter. He watched her walk around the kitchen. She was ignoring him. Then he snagged Bella as she went past him; drawing her over to him and positioning her between his legs with his arms around her. He slid down a little so that their faces were closer together.

"Hello," he said in a sultry, low voice.

Bella almost purred.

He gave Bella his sad puppy face. "What about me?" he whined. "You didn't ask if I was okay. Look, she scratched me and bit me." He opened his shirt for Bella to show her the scratches. She tutted and fussed at the nail marks on his chest. He gave Leah a triumphant look that made her roll her eyes.

"He's fine," Leah argued. "He'll heal."

"Okay, Leah." Bella hugged Paul. "You had fun?" she asked him.

Leah snorted. "He enjoyed himself." She looked at them. Paul had both his arms around Bella's waist and she had one hand on each of his cheeks. She was pushing her hips into him and he was leaning down towards her. There was no space between them. They were smiling at each other. They looked like lovers.

"No," Leah said.

They both turned to look at her. Paul was still holding Bella.

"NO," Leah repeated. "You knew the deal," she pointed at Paul. Now she pointed at Bella. "He's not a fucking puppy that we can keep because he followed me home."

They stepped hurriedly away from each other. Bella looked guilty.

"And he's marginally useful in the bed department," Leah added.

"Hey," Paul protested.

"He's more than useful," Bella defended.

Paul grinned at Leah over her head.

"Ugh," she said.

Bella looked worried. She had been so elated when Paul had noticed her. "Are you okay, Leah? Should we talk about this?"

"Talk about **what**?" Leah said. "We all got what we wanted."

"I should go," said Paul. He started to put his shirt back on.

"No," Bella insisted. "We have to sort this out. I know Leah, if you go, she won't talk and I won't know what's wrong." She patted Paul on the arm, encouragingly. "She hasn't been talking to me lately. I know something is wrong, but I don't know what."

Leah folded her arms and grunted.

Paul looked at her. "I can tell you what's wrong," he suggested.

Leah lifted her lip at him and snarled.

"Stop it, Leah." Bella ordered. She took up a position equidistant between them. "There. I am not touching anyone. Is that better?"

Leah nodded.

"Okay, Paul," Bella said. "What do you think it is? Seeing as how Leah is just grunting."

He wouldn't look at Leah now. He spoke to Bella, "She enjoyed herself."

"Screw you, Lahote," Leah barked at him.

"And you did. **And** you had fun." He paused. "Both times," he added.

Leah huffed out a breath.

"Both times?" Bella asked with a worried look.

"Fuck!" said Leah.

Paul looked at her quickly. "You didn't tell her," he accused.

"Tell me what?" Bella looked panicked.

"What if you didn't want me to?" Leah argued, "It wasn't exactly vanilla sex."

He just gave her a look. "You're an idiot."

Bella still looked confused.

Leah couldn't look at her. "I didn't know how and the more I put it off, the harder it got to say anything."

"**You** tell me, Paul," said Bella. She deliberately turned her back on Leah. She moved closer to Paul.

Leah winced.

He looked at Leah. And then he gave a small nod. "Leah wanted to fuck me, but **she** wanted to be the guy."

"Oh." And then as she understood, "OH." Bella stared at Paul as if she was stopping herself from looking at Leah.

Leah looked incredibly guilty.

"And you did that?" Bella asked quietly. "You let her do… that to you?"

Paul nodded. "My price was the forest sex with her."

"So that had nothing to do with me?"

"No. Not really."

"Most guys wouldn't want people to know they did that," Leah argued.

"You could have just asked him if he minded you telling me," Bella argued.

"Yes. I could have. I'm sorry I didn't."

"Okay. I think I understand why you didn't say anything. But I am not pleased about it." Bella stared at the floor. "And I think I get why Leah would want to do that to you."

"What the fuck?" Leah exclaimed.

"Oh, don't be silly, Leah. You are a wolf. That makes you more dominant than a normal girl."

Paul looked amused that Leah had underestimated Bella.

"And I know you and Sam must have had a good sex life, so it makes sense that you might miss a…"

"Peen?" Leah suggested, bitterly when it seemed that Bella was lost for the word.

"Well, …yes." Bella looked at Paul. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?" he checked. He looked suspicious.

"I get that you just wanted Leah, because you are both wolves and that I was a consolation prize-"

"No," Leah interrupted. "He likes you." Then she swore when she realized what she had done. "Fuck."

"We talked about that before, but you can't know that!" Bella asked, "Did he tell you that?"

Paul was glaring daggers at Leah.

"Fuck!" Leah threw her hands up in the air. "Okay. I saw it in his head. We tried to have sex as wolves."

Bella blinked.

"It didn't work," Leah blustered. "Well, at least not the way he wanted. Tonight, we were in each other's heads for a few minutes, though."

"During sex? So you know what he thinks about sex? And me? **And** about you?" Bella asked.

Dead silence.

"Wait a second," Bella said, "Why didn't it work?"

"We kind of got stuck together," Paul answered.

"Oh, my God. Like real wolves?" Bella asked.

"You knew about that?" Leah asked.

"I saw it on a documentary. David Attenborough, I think."

Paul snorted. "It was pretty weird." He chuckled. "Seems funny, now. It wasn't at the time."

"Christ, we both freaked out and fed each other's panic," Leah said.

"We had to phase back at the exact same time to get unstuck," Paul added.

"You didn't damage anything?" Bella checked.

Paul grinned. "Nope. All in good working order. Don't you worry." He winked at Leah.

"Shit," said Leah. "I am NEVER getting rid of you, am I?"

"Are you jealous?" Bella asked her.

"What?" Leah waved her arms around. "He fucked **me**, why am I the jealous one? By rights, you're the one who should be upset."

"Well, I'm not. And you fucked him **and** I'm not happy that you didn't tell me. I just wanted **you** to be happy," Bella argued. "And he fucked **both** of us."

"I'm happy," Paul added, unnecessarily.

"Shut up, Paul," the girls chorused.

Just then, the kitchen timer went off. Paul gave Bella his sad puppy eyes again.

"Of course you can stay for dinner," she told him. "You don't even need to ask."

Leah grumbled, "He _didn't_ ask."

"As I recall, I invited him. You did tell him that? Go wash your hands," Bella ordered. "The table is already set."

Paul hurried to comply. Leah hissed at him in the bathroom, "You know the deal, she's mine, Lahote."

"Hey, I'm not the one who insisted I stay. And she's still yours. She's doing this for you and when did you stop calling me Paul?"

Leah let out an annoyed hiss and stomped back to the dining room.

Paul watched her go, he looked amused. He washed his hands and splashed water on his face. He used their bath towel to dry his face. He held it and inhaled deeply. "Mmm. Smells like both of them. I could get used to this."

"I heard that!" Leah shouted up the hallway.

He didn't answer her; just grinned. He knew she could hear him. It was just too much fun to tease Leah sometimes. He took a seat at the table and Bella placed a full plate in front of him. He hugged her in against him with one arm, before she sat down.

They ate dinner together.

Leah kicked Paul under the table until Bella groused at her to stop it.

Paul ate his fill and praised Bella's cooking. She glowed. Leah glowered.

"I am sad I missed seeing you two have sex," Bella said. "I think you would look so beautiful together. Although the wolves are pretty scary."

"You could see it; you could even join in," suggested Paul.

More glaring from Leah.

"Really?" she sounded so eager.

"Yeah. It would be a good way for Leah to apologize," he suggested with a wink at Leah.

Leah made a heavy sigh noise and banged her head on the table.

"Please, Leah?" Bella pleaded.

She looked at Bella. "As I recall you slapped him, when he suggested that before."

"Well," Bella huffed. "I was pretty innocent then." She clambered off her chair and onto Paul's lap. "What are you offering, Paul?"

"What?" Leah shrieked as she leapt to her feet. "He can go home. That's what he can do."

"I want this, Leah," Bella said. "Think of it as an apology."

Leah looked at her. She did need to apologize, but she couldn't think of anything else right now. They were outnumbering her.

Bella looked back at Paul. "Can we do it tonight? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good to go. Just need a shower. If that's okay?"

"Yes, that'll be great. You know where the bathroom is."

She kissed him, in front of Leah. Leah knew it was for her benefit. She wanted to smack her head into the table again.

He went off to have a shower and the girls cleaned up and put stuff away. It was familiar and comforting.

"Say something," Bella pleaded.

Leah threw herself angrily onto the sofa.

Bella sat on her lap. "Talk to me," she whisper pleaded. "This all goes wrong when you keep secrets from me. I don't like it, Leah. I hate people making my decisions for me. You know that. It smacks of Edward."

"I know and I'm sorry… I just… I dunno. Does it have to be Paul?"

"He's okay," Bella whispered. "You just had sex with him… and he likes you."

"Does not."

"He _does_. You were in his head; you must have seen it. He has done everything you asked him to. **Everything**. Even the stuff he didn't really want to do. Not for me. But because _you_ asked him."

Leah looked as if she was only just putting that together. Or, he had a plan of his own.

Bella continued, "What was he thinking? You said you were in each other's heads for a little while."

"He was happy. It was the only thing that made him happy."

"What thing? Sex or you?" Bella asked quietly.

Leah couldn't answer her. She hadn't actually thought about it before. She had assumed it was the sex. But she knew he liked Bella as well.

"He wasn't that rough, was he?" Bella questioned. "I thought you said that he wanted to be really rough? That was why I wasn't there with you. But you don't have any broken bones or major injuries."

"No, actually, he wasn't that violent. He could have broken arms." She shrugged. "I thought it was just because we both got a bit freaked out by the wolf thing. It kind of changed the mood. We started off hitting each other. That wasn't pretty. "

"See!" said Bella triumphantly. "He likes you. He's just as pig headed as you and he won't admit it, either."

Leah was thinking aloud. "He always looked after Seth for me, when Sam was being overprotective."

"Ha!" Bella was triumphant. "He likes us both."

"We don't need him," Leah argued.

"I think you do. He's right about that 'let loose and go wild' thing. I think you need that as well. Not all the time, but I can't do that for you. I suspect that's why you asked him in the first place." She kissed Leah quickly. "And I like him and I like having sex with him. He was gentle with me. He can be both."

"I can, if that's what you wanted." Paul was standing in the doorway. He was wet from the shower. He had a towel slung low around his hips.

Leah snorted. "Typical. Listening in."

Paul looked at Leah and then shifted his glance to Bella. "I can be whatever you want," Paul said. He took a careful step into the room; then another. He spoke, his voice low and quiet as he moved towards Bella. His bare feet padding across the floor. "I can be gentle with you, Bella." He reached out a hand to her. She stood and went to him. Their fingers interlaced and he tugged her towards him. His arm embracing and circling her.

Leah stood up, made a small growl and stepped towards them.

Paul's other hand reached up and grabbed Leah at the back of the neck. He yanked her hard, by the hair, and hauled her over towards him. She growled but she didn't fight him. "And I can be rough with you, Leah. That's what **you** want." He bent down and he kissed her. Bella sighed as she watched them.

Paul bit Leah's bottom lip and she let out a whimper noise.

"You knew," Leah accused. "The wolf thing. Once we fucked-"

"I wasn't sure," he interrupted. "But I thought that if you let me mate with you; you'd be more compliant." He looked unapologetic. "But I'll fight you, if that's what you want, too. I mean it; whatever you want." He glanced at Bella. "Both of you."

Leah pulled away from him. He let her go. She smacked at his arm anyway. She pressed at her bitten lip with the back of her hand. "This is all what **you** want, really. **You** get everything you desire. Don't try to tell me you're doing this for us."

He shrugged. "Maybe. But what _**you**_ get is a guy who will happily fuck you both and won't try to separate you and Bella. Who doesn't want to live with you and be part of your lives. I'm not moving in, Leah."

"Could have fooled me."

"I'm not Sam."

"What's Sam got to do with this?" Bella asked.

Paul spoke, "Why do you think Sam is so happy with Emily?"

"Shut up, Paul," Leah hissed.

"He wanted a domestic goddess; a mother, way more than he needed a needy, emotional equal."

"Stop it!" Leah shouted at him. Why was he bringing this up now? It was too much for her, on top of everything else.

Bella backed away from them; they frightened her. They were both so intense and she knew, so dangerous.

Paul grabbed Leah now, with two hands. She tried to fight him and she lost again. He pinned her with his arms and had her face jammed in against his body. She took a shuddering breath; she made a frustrated whine noise and then she burst into tears.

"Leah," Bella wailed. "Don't hurt her, Paul."

"It's not me. It's Sam," Paul said. "She never cried. She never did and she needed to."

"B-baby," Leah sobbed. "I'm sorry I lied to you and I've mucked everything up."

Bella rushed towards her. "It wasn't you," Bella consoled her. "It was me."

Paul let her go enough to squeeze Bella in-between them. Leah grabbed at her and hugged her hard. Bella shushed her and stroked her hair; planting little kisses over her face. Paul slowly let them go and took a step back. He redid the towel around his waist; it had been in danger of falling.

Leah's arm snaked out and grabbed the front of the towel and yanked him back towards them. His arms folded around them both. He laid his cheek on the top of Leah's head. They all stood there in a group hug, until Leah had calmed down a little; Bella sandwiched between them.

"You're an asshole, Lahote," Leah grumbled at him, as she wiped at her cheeks.

"That's what everyone tells me."

"He complimented you, silly," Bella said. "He called you Sam's equal and you are so busy being angry with him, you didn't even hear it."

"He's still an asshole," Leah grumbled. "He made me cry."

"Was he right?" Bella pressed. "Did you never cry?"

"No. I was just so angry with them. My boyfriend and my best friend. Didn't she know the stupid girl code?"

"You needed to mourn, Leah," Bella said.

"Coming from-" Leah stopped. Woe betide she open the whole 'zombie for four months' Bella box.

Bella went to pull away but Paul was still holding them both. "Now, now, we are not going there," he said evenly. "We've all done dumb things, things we are not proud of. Things, that if we could look back, we would probably do differently."

"What? Like fuck the rez skank, whatshername? Gemma Littlesea?"

"Leah," Bella scolded.

Silence.

"Not going there. **Okay**?" he checked.

"Sure," Bella agreed.

"Whatever," Leah grumbled.

"Right," said Paul. "I need to go home-"

"Can you stay?" Bella asked him.

"Pffttt," said Leah.

"Leah wants you to stay, too," Bella said.

"I don't think she does."

"See! This is how it starts," Leah argued. "Then I have to defend myself and then you sulk and then he stays."

"I do **not** sulk," Bella argued.

"Jeez, why would I _want_ to stay?" Paul asked.

"Shut up Paul," the girls chorused.

He leaned in and kissed Bella's cheek, then Leah's. Then he pushed them together.

Leah smacked at him. "I don't need your help to kiss my girlfriend." She kissed Bella hard.

Paul watched them, carefully.

Bella smiled at her when she pulled away. "That's better."

Leah huffed out a breath. "I need a shower. I stink of you," she told Paul.

He grinned. "Yeah, I noticed."

"Look," Leah conceded at Bella's eager face, "If you want him to stay that's fine."

Bella and Paul exchanged a glance.

"You're sure?" Bella checked.

Leah nodded.

"I do want him to stay. If we have sex, would you join us?" Bella asked. "Please Leah. I really want to see us all together."

Leah nodded once more; a tiny nod. "I assume he won't say 'no'."

"He won't." He stroked his hand down Leah's back. "Especially if I get you both."

She sighed.

"Go have your shower, Leah. I'll look after her until you get there."

"That's what worries me."

"And then I'll look after you," he offered.

She looked up at his face. "Yeah, that worries me, too."

"You worry too much." He turned and scooped up Bella. She flung her arms around his neck as he lifted her. "Come on, girl." He kissed her neck and she laughed. "See you soon, Leah." He turned to walk towards the bedroom.

Leah grabbed at the towel. "I'll have my towel back." She tore it off him.

"Thanks." He chuckled and kept walking, naked.

"Ugh... it smells like you." She threw it in the door of the laundry and got herself a clean one. "Stupid wolf boy stinking up my house," she grumbled.

"I heard that!" he shouted from the bedroom.

"Humph," said Leah. She was going to grizzle about his sexy ass but then she thought she better not; he'd hear that, too. It was a good ass, though; she had to give him that. Even if it still had a few scratches on it from her nails.

She scrubbed her face. The wolf sex, plus all the emotions of the evening had just pushed her over the edge. She hated crying, it made her eyes feel all sandy and gritty. But she had to admit, she did feel a little better. She had finally told Bella the truth and they were going to be waiting for her in her bed. It was a heady thought. She had enjoyed Paul in the forest and she did need to make it up to Bella. Bella wanted this. Leah squashed her misgivings. She could hear them talking to each other.

She peered at herself; turning sideways and back again. She didn't look any different. Had the wolf sex changed something?

She got in the shower so that she couldn't hear them have sex.


	12. Chapter 12

**chapter 12**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul stood inside the door with Bella still in his arms. Bella looked worried. "Are we doing the right thing?" she asked in a tiny whisper.

"She'll be fine," he assured her. "She just needs some space to herself and then she will come and join us." His head tilted. "I heard that!" he shouted.

Bella smiled. "What did she say?"

"She's grizzling about me stinking up her house."

"Really? You stank it up before, I would have thought." Bella leaned in and sniffed at him. "You smell fresh and clean, right now… but usually you smell… I dunno… I think you smell good."

"Yeah?" he looked oddly pleased. "Not near as good as you smell to me."

"I do?" She looked over joyed.

"Yeah." He shoved his face into her neck and inhaled deliberately loudly.

Bella laughed and leaned back from him a little. He still held her at the hips. He leaned his back against the bedroom wall. Her eyes glanced down to this chest where Leah's marks were still visible. She brushed the fingertips of one hand across them again. Paul watched her. She found the bite mark on his pec.

"You hit each other?" Bella asked, in a small voice.

"Yeah and bit, scratched and wrestled."

"Is that normal for wolves… I mean, that's pretty strong for people?"

"I don't know. No one has tried it before. As far as we know."

"No female wolves before, so nobody could try it."

"No. And she started it. I just hit her back." He made a shrug movement. "I suppose I pushed at her until she hit me."

Bella bit her lip.

"I'd never hit you," he crooned. "With Leah it was a kind of a dominance thing."

"Who's the better wolf you mean? So, who won?"

He grinned. "I did. Earned the right to mate."

Bella looked thoughtful. "You also won against her earlier; just before she cried."

"Yeah, but she wasn't really letting loose, then. Not much of a fight."

Bella stared at his chest.

He stroked her back with one hand, holding her easily with the other. "Whassup?"

"She wouldn't let me watch," Bella said.

He nodded.

"She said I might be frightened."

He waited.

"But you don't hurt me."

"Sex can be all about losing control. But I _could_ hurt you. That's the problem."

"No," she disagreed. "I don't think you'd ever hurt me. And Leah doesn't."

The thought crossed his mind that Bella Swan was alarmingly naive and had learned nothing from her aborted dating experience with Edward Cullen. People hurt you when you let them in to your heart and your world, in his experience. The bruises you could see didn't hurt as much as the ones you couldn't. He didn't say it; he'd had enough emotion tonight. Now, he wanted sex.

He lowered his head and pushed under her face. She kissed him. He shifted her in his arms; lifting her closer to his body. "You gonna get those clothes off?"

"You're ready?"

"And naked. Stop talking, Bella." He kissed her again.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"Still talking, Bella."

She giggled. "Put me down."

"In a minute." He turned and pressed her up against the wall; holding her there. "You got any condoms?"

Bella blushed like a tomato.

"What did I say?" he asked.

"I b-bought some… j-just in case..."

He grinned. "Just in case I came over?" he asked.

"Yes," she confessed. "I matched the wrapper."

"And the size?"

"I just got the biggest."

He laughed delightedly. "Now, what was that about secrets?"

Bella looked irritated. "I would have asked her first."

"Yeah. I reckon you would have, too."

"Who's talking now?" she chided.

He ignored her. "Are you angry with her?"

"No. Being angry makes me feel sick. But I was upset that she hid it."

"I didn't hide anything," he suggested.

"You showed her you and me… together? The pack memory?"

He nodded. "I think that might have upset her. It was a good idea, but it was too detailed, you know."

Bella nodded. "I can see that. It's one thing to be told… but it would be like watching the video."

"Worse."

She looked sad and serious.

Paul had liked seeing her so happy to see him. "She's trying to apologize now."

"I know. How did you know how she felt about Sam?"

"I was there."

"Part of the early pack?"

"Yeah… we were all good friends. You go through that together, you know?" He sighed. "Leah phasing was hard for us all. She was so angry and she seemed to deliberately remember stuff to upset him. Stuff she probably should have kept private. That was too hard on the virgins."

"And Seth."

"I tried to keep Seth with me to protect him."

"She knows that, but maybe not why you did it."

"I might tell her… one day." He kissed Bella again. "Now, where were we?"

"I'm still worried about Leah," Bella confessed.

"I got that, what with the delay; all talk, not much action."

"Am I so transparent?"

"No. Tell you what, I'm undressed. We'll just be naked and waiting for her. We won't start without her. Would that make you feel better?"

"Yes. She growled at you when you kissed me."

"Of course. Territory."

"I'm hers."

"Yep. She told me again in the bathroom when we were washing our hands. But I'm just borrowing you."

"And then you'll give me back?"

"Yeah."

"You wanted to do this ages ago didn't you?"

"Be with you both?" he checked.

A nod.

"Me?" He tried to look innocent and failed spectacularly.

Bella laughed.

* * *

When Leah got out of the shower, she put on a silk kimono that Bella had bought her. She stopped in the doorway to the bedroom. They weren't having sex; she knew that when she couldn't hear or smell them. They were both naked on the bed, but Paul was lying face down and Bella was sitting next to him with her feet curled up underneath her. She was laughing.

"She made a mess of your ass." She ran her hands over the fading nail marks.

"The final lunge; she grabbed me, sunk the nails in and I lost it. That finished me."

"So you like nails?"

"A bit. Not too much."

"I don't have any nails." Bella pouted. "Oh, here she is," Bella said, as if Paul didn't know Leah was there. "Hey."

Leah nodded. "Hey."

"Man, I could fall asleep here," Paul commented. His eyes were closed. His face resting on his folded arms. His head was at the foot of the bed.

"No. You can't!" Bella protested.

"I've got a full tummy and I'm tired. Leah wore me out." He opened his eyes and winked at Leah.

"Oh, poor Paul," Leah said, in mock sympathy.

Bella chuckled. She looked up at Leah. "We were waiting for you. We decided not to start without you."

"Thanks."

Leah still hadn't entered the room.

Suddenly she got what Paul was doing; he was lower than her, his head held down below hers, he was lying down and he was not in a fighting stance. He was all kinds of submissive. He was trying to keep Bella happy by being here and her happy by not upsetting her wolf with a display of dominance. He was even flashing his ass at her and he knew how much she liked his ass. She had felt overwhelmed before, when he had held her and she cried, but now she felt a little better about this.

And Bella hadn't jumped Paul immediately. She must have delayed him; he had been intent on bedding her first. Leah felt a whole lot more confident about her lover.

Bella was standing in front of her. Her hands slid inside the kimono. "I love the feel of the silk under my fingers."

"I know. That's why you gave it to me."

"You in it is a bonus." She hugged her around the waist, her breasts brushing against Leah's skin. It felt familiar and safe; her Bella. She lifted her hands and held her head. She kissed her. Her fingers tangling in her hair. Bella's hands stroking her skin; caressing and touching. Her tongue in her mouth. Bella kissed her way down to Leah's breasts. Leah's arms were trapped for a second until she shrugged out of the kimono. It slid from her shoulders and fell to the floor with a whisper of silk on her skin.

She cradled Bella to her. Burying her face in her hair. Bella's mouth locked around her nipple. Leah's head tilted back. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Paul. He was staring at them intently; his eyes burning with desire. They stared at each other. He didn't blink. He hadn't moved on the bed. Still resting his chin on his hands, but his whole body looked tense with anticipation.

She gave him a small wicked smile.

He raised one eyebrow a fraction.

She could do this. In fact, she wanted it now.

She started to back Bella towards the bed. Paul licked his lips. He moved, very slowly; his arms unfolded and reached for them. Bella startled when he touched her as if she had forgotten he was there. His hands slid in between her legs and she moaned. He rolled over onto his back. His cock was already erect and lying up his body. He had been lying on top of some condom wrappers.

Bella scrambled onto the bed. Paul looked at Leah. He gave a head jerk that invited her onto the bed as well. She climbed on. He had lifted up on his elbows a little. He held his face towards her. Leah leaned down and captured his lips. They kissed. One hand reached up and pulled her harder onto his face.

Bella made a small noise. She was touching them both. She clambered down the bed and wrapped her hands around Paul's cock. He made a grunt as she stroked him.

She tore the condom wrapper herself. Leah pulled back to look at her.

"Useful life skills," said Paul. He reached for Leah's hand and held it.

He and Leah watched as Bella rolled the condom down to cover him. He grinned at Bella. She straddled his body and moved up his body to kiss him. Leah watched and managed not to growl at them. She gripped Paul's hand harder. He didn't react.

"Now, what are you going to do with it?" he asked Bella mischievously.

She grinned back at him. She kissed him again quickly, then slid backwards with her hand under her. She guided herself onto his cock. Lifting and lowering until she had him all the way in. "Oh, yes," she cried when she sank all the way down onto him.

Leah watched Bella. She was definitely enjoying herself. Leah liked seeing that.

"Mmmm," he said; clearly enjoying himself as well.

He reached for Leah, now. "Hop on," he suggested.

She blinked.

He stretched his tongue out and curled the end.

Oh now. He hadn't gone down on Leah before. She knew he had done Bella, she had seen it in the memory. And she had done him, but at the moment it was clearly her turn.

"We'll squish you," said Bella, when Leah seemed to be hesitating.

"And I would die happy." He sounded very sincere.

Leah snorted. She went to climb onto his face and he made her turn around so that she faced Bella. His arms lifted and bent at the elbows, he reached over her hips to grasp Leah's ass with his palms and pulled her onto his mouth. She leaned forward a little to meet Bella at the same time that Paul's tongue went to work. She actually grabbed at Bella; it surprised her.

"Ohh," she moaned.

"So good," said Bella.

Leah wasn't sure if she was talking about Paul's tongue or his cock. She grabbed her at the top of the arms, pulling her off Paul's cock and then pushing her back down. Bella just let herself go; letting Leah control the pace. And Paul lay underneath them both. He was almost just the tool they used. Leah knew how dominant he could be. She had seen that in the forest earlier. But now he let her control the action. She appreciated it. He had said he could be what they both needed and he did seem to be trying.

Then he started to fuck her with his tongue and she completely lost it.

* * *

When she woke up, the room reeked of him but he was gone. She and Bella were curled up asleep amongst the rumpled sheets.

Bella blinked at her when she woke. "He did say he wasn't moving in," she said.


	13. Chapter 13

**chapter 13**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah went over to Paul's house the next day. She knew that he was at home. She didn't knock.

"One day you will walk in and I will be chock a block up someone on the sofa, you know," he commented when she barged in.

"Sure. As if I couldn't hear the snoring. And don't you mean, cock a block?" She stood over him.

"Right." He rubbed his eyes. "What did you want, Leah?" His voice dropped a little on her name. He almost caressed it.

"Nothing."

"Uh, huh." He blinked slowly. He was still lying down. He looked up at her.

"We are done," she announced.

He frowned at her.

"So I don't want anything," she added.

He nodded slowly. "And Bella?"

"She's done, too."

"That was the agreement. We all got what we wanted." He echoed the argument of the night before. He reached out as if to touch her leg and she stepped back, before he made contact.

"It's over," she said.

"Never again," he suggested.

"Exactly."

"Right."

She turned and bolted.

He snorted. He rolled over and tried to get comfy again, but he couldn't go back to sleep. It wasn't often he got dumped. In fact, he couldn't remember ever being dumped. He chuckled again and flicked the television on.

* * *

Leah went home and held Bella tighter. She wanted to be the perfect girlfriend.

Bella thought she was being odd, but she got it. They had survived a speed hump in their relationship. Handled properly, it should make them stronger.

* * *

Quil and Embry were playing a card game.

"You know, I went past Leah and Bella's house on patrol recently."

Embry snorted. "Yep. You always do. Some perverted hope that you will see either or both naked and together, huh Quil?"

"If they were having sex, it would be awesome."

"So you keep hoping?"

"Yep."

"You are shameless."

"Yep," said Quil.

"And what?" asked Embry, as he played a card.

"Oh," Quil paused as he checked his cards, "I heard Paul's voice."

"Yeah?"

"Inside the house… in the middle of the night."

Embry frowned at him. "Doing what?"

"Not sure."

"That's a big claim, Quil."

"I know I'm right. It was him."

"He doesn't need a place to stay-"

"Got a whole house, virtually to himself."

"He might have been avoiding a particularly persistent girl," Embry suggested.

"Sure, sure. But awake and talking in the middle of the night at Leah and Bella's house?"

"Which room?"

"Main bedroom, I think."

Embry looked distracted and didn't speak.

"It's Paul," Quil added. "There's only one thing on his mind."

"Yeah… but Bella and Leah? Why would they do that?" Embry asked.

Quil shrugged. "If it was one of them, my money is on Leah."

* * *

Paul felt a tinge of regret. He had ticked that box. Done Leah and Bella and, done Leah AND Bella. Neat.

He went back to his old behavior. Leopards and spots and all that.

It was not until he was feeling horny and went for the easy mark; Gemma Littlesea. He started to chat her up and all of a sudden, he heard a voice in his head:

'_We've all done dumb things, things we are not proud of. Things, that if we could look back, we would probably do differently.' He had said that and Leah had replied, 'What? Like fuck the rez skank, whatshername? Gemma Littlesea?'_

He had laughed in Gemma's face.

She was not pleased. He could have talked her around, convinced her that fucking him would make her feel better, but he didn't feel like it any more. He went home and went fishing with his dad. Yeah. Fishing. What the fuck? It was a good afternoon. They actually talked about a few things.

Fucking women was still fun and enjoyable, but it just wasn't the same. Suddenly, he could take it or leave it.

With Bella and Leah he had pushed it up to a whole new level. Sex with them went all the way to eleven. And doing a four just didn't appeal to him anymore. They were his new high water mark.

He knew it was just meant to be a one-time thing, but damn… they had scratched that itch and it needed scratching again. Could he talk them into another round? He had been very careful to play the submissive. He had worked out after the pegging, when he had naturally assumed that role for a short time, that Leah liked him like that. It wasn't his natural state but he could do it, **if** he got what he wanted.

He had gone for Bella as the weak link before, but now he knew that Bella was stronger than she appeared. The time that the three of them had sex, Bella had effectively turned him down until Leah joined them. She had done it pretty damn subtly, too. Just kept talking. And he was naked and willing at the time. That took some doing.

And his wolf was eager to see Leah's wolf again.

He knew how unnerved she was when she came to see him, to tell him the deal was done. She had still reeked of him, for a start. And she had jumped away before he touched her.

Pack meetings were easy; they just completely ignored each other. Anyone who was a bit observant might have noticed that was a change of behavior for them. They had been chattier before, but Paul was willing to bet nobody noticed. They sat on opposite sides of the room, now. Plus, they both kept an extremely tight lid on their heads when phased. Leah had learned to do it to keep her Bella memories private. Especially from Quil. And Paul had just always done it. When the pack was just three; two with imprints, they had really not appreciated him sharing his girl memories with them. He had learned to shut it down, then.

* * *

After a pack meeting, Sam said, "Leah, can you stay back?"

She nodded and threw herself back down onto his sofa.

He looked serious as he always did, so she didn't suspect his motives. It wasn't until he was really sure that everyone was out of hearing distance that he started to talk. "Is there something that you want to tell me?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"No."

"Everything is all right at home?"

She frowned at him. "Sam, what the fuck?"

Sam looked uncharacteristically nervous. "I phased in the other week… and caught…" he stopped. "Something," he finished. "I was not sure what it was, at first. But it was you and Paul. I don't even want to think about what you were doing. What the fuck, Leah? Did you seriously try to have sex as wolves?"

Leah blinked. Fuck! She screamed inside. She kept her bitchy exterior. "And?"

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Sam asked, again.

"What?"

"Sex with Paul?"

She shrugged.

"As wolves?" he sounded horrified. "You should be glad it was me… What if it was Seth or Brady, Leah? Did you even think about that?"

Oh. They actually hadn't thought about that. Too busy fighting, then fucking to even check for others.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Fuck off Sam. This has nothing to do with you."

"This is pack business."

"No it isn't!" She might have let Sam go, but he hadn't really let her go. He annoyed Leah and she didn't think she needed to say that it was a one time thing and it was done now. It wasn't any of Sam's business as far as she was concerned. "What are you more upset about? The wolves or that it was Paul?"

"Leelee," Sam tried.

She jumped to her feet. "Don't!" she warned him. "You are just upset because it was me. If it was another girl, it would not be an issue."

"We don't have any other girls."

"No. Don't I know it?"

Sam changed tack. "Plus, Quil thinks he heard Paul at your place one night." He paused "You can't fuck Paul." He was pleading with her.

Leah almost panicked. That must have been the night Bella and Paul were together. Typical that Sam would assume it was her. "Why not? He does this thing with his tongue." She stuck her tongue out at Sam, who nearly blushed. "It's actually pretty good."

Sam sighed as if he didn't know what to say.

"What about Bella?" he tried.

"What about her? She's good with it." Leah wanted to tell him that Bella had fucked Paul, too, but it wasn't her place and that really wasn't any of Sam's business.

Sam's mouth hung open for a second until he got it together. "She is?"

"What, Sam? This has nothing to do with you. Bella is **not** a wolf."

"No, she isn't. But you and Paul are both part of my pack. Jeez it was bad enough before with B-"

She growled at him.

His voice dropped to a whisper. "Okay. I may be out of order on that one. But rough sex? You damn near flattened half the forest."

She snorted. "You don't like that, do you Sam?"

"What?"

"You think what we did was rough? Jeez Sam. You haven't seen the full show then. We are wolves. Just imagine. I haven't shared the real rough stuff with the pack and I'm betting he hasn't, either.

You only know about this because you phased in, and then you went there and checked it out for yourself… sniffing around like a sick stalker. Didn't you? Did you want to come over and sniff our sheets, too?"

His head drew back as if she had slapped him. "Leelee, this isn't you."

"You don't know me, Sam."

"I thought I did." He looked genuinely concerned.

It hurt her to see him upset like this. "For Christ's sake, Sam." She tried to console him. "This isn't anything you did or didn't do or what the fuck ever. Get over this obsession with my life."

Sam looked suddenly irritated. "Yeah, like you got over me."

She rolled her eyes. "YOU dumped me! You've got a damn hide to dare to tell me how to live my life. You can't tell me who I fuck or don't fuck. It is not alpha business. Fuck off, Sam!"

"Right." He sounded really irritated with her, now.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude. Fuck off, please Sam."

She stomped out the door.

Fuck. She'd have to talk to Paul.


	14. Chapter 14

**chapter 14**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

[AN: remember children, safe sex always - these are werewolves and are disease resistant. Warning - they go a bit dark and aggressive here, too.]

* * *

When Leah got home Bella was curled up on the sofa reading a book.

"How was the meeting?" she asked conversationally.

"Fine."

Bella looked up at her and frowned. "What?"

"Sam."

Bella waited. Nothing forthcoming. "Sam. What?"

"Knows."

"Holy Crow, Leah… just tell me. What does he know?"

"Sam asked me to stay after the meeting. It seems he heard Paul and I together… the night that we tried as wolves. Sam phased in."

"Oh, dear. That's kind of a worst case scenario, isn't it?"

"Maybe not. He raised a valid point. What if it was Brady or Collin? They are nearly fourteen, but even so."

"Oh."

"Fuck! We didn't even check if anyone else was on patrol. Paul throws me off balance. We were so busy fighting and we didn't even check before…"

"It was on," finished Bella.

She sighed and closed her book. She held her hand out to Leah. "Look… we knew this might happen. It's the pack. It has no secrets. Or at least, not ones that you can keep for very long."

"I know." Leah sat. But she was all hunched up. "I hate this. I just want to be normal. I hate knowing the scent trail of what everyone has done all day."

"Leah, you weren't normal before." Bella tried to make it a joke.

She chuckled. Then looked serious again. "There's Quil, too."

"What has he done?"

"He heard Paul here, that night with you. At least I think it was that night." She shrugged. "Sam just assumed it was me. And how fucking rude is that?"

"He's just worried about you."

"Well he can just fuck off. This isn't his business."

"Did you tell him I knew?"

"I didn't tell him you had been with Paul as well; that is _really_ none of his business."

"So he thinks you are cheating on me and that I am okay about it?" Bella asked.

"OR, that I am lying about you being okay with it."

Bella thought for a minute. "Okay, this is Sam. What will he do next?"

"He will probably talk to Paul. Get his side of the story."

"If Sam knows, how long before it leaks to the rest of the pack?"

"Not long if Quil is blabbing about it as well."

"Jake," Bella breathed. She put her hand over her mouth.

"Yeah."

Silence.

"What did you say to Sam?"

"I told him to fuck off and mind his own business."

"Oh, Leah."

"Well it isn't his business."

"It kind of is, though; it's pack and he's the Alpha. And he still loves you."

"I know," tiny voice.

"Were you really mean?"

"A bit." Leah paused. "I asked him if he wanted to come over and sniff our sheets."

"Ouch."

"He told me this wasn't me. He called me Leelee. I hate that." She looked at Bella. "It was his name for me… you know…"

"When you were dating."

"Yeah."

Another pause.

"So what do we do?" Bella asked.

Leah shrugged. "Ride out the storm."

"You think there will be one? I never thought about it before."

"Sam's upset, Jake will be… and I'm not sure what Paul will do. Probably bask in teenage boy adoration." Leah rolled her eyes.

"Should we tell him? Warn him or whatever."

"I don't know."

"We have kind of been avoiding him," Bella noted. "He doesn't come over at all anymore."

"I know." Leah searched Bella's face for any sign that she missed him. She thought she saw something, so she spoke, "I'll go see him. Just give him a quick heads up, that there is trouble coming."

"You can't phone him?"

"No phone."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's a pain, but with the pack we usually just yowl."

"A yowl might be a bit too … public."

"Oh, yeah."

"Okay then. I am tired, tonight. I might go to bed and you can wake me up when you get back." Bella leaned forward and kissed her. "It will be okay. You are so worried over this, but you're right. It's our business; not theirs."

Leah gave her a weak smile. "I sure hope so, but you know what the pack are like."

"You talk to Paul tonight and I will talk to Jake tomorrow. I know he will have something to say about all this."

"Deal," said Leah. "You can wrap Jake around your finger."

Bella laughed. "No, not nearly as well as you think."

* * *

Leah started walking to Paul's house. She felt agitated and nervous about talking to him. Her walk became faster and eventually she was jogging and then flat out running.

She even took a shortcut through the forest; her vision was perfect in the dark and she wasn't scared of anything she would meet. It was odd, but this nameless fear that had got her half running was just crazy behavior. Was she running to get there before Sam did? It didn't make sense.

But as she dashed through the forest she saw a figure; ahead of her between the trees. It was Paul.

She called out to him. "Paul?"

He turned and looked at her. He picked up on her anxiety and fear. He moved quickly towards her. "Leah?" he called.

"Paul?" she called again; her voice trembling.

"What's wrong? Is it Bella?"

She stopped, but he was still moving toward her. He grabbed her by the top of the arms "Whoa, whoa, tell me what's wrong."

"Sam."

"What?" he peered into her face as if there was more.

"He knows," she hissed.

"Knows?"

"About us."

"Uh, huh." He looked confused. "And?" he asked.

"Why aren't you upset?" she demanded.

He laughed and tried to hug her. He was clearly relieved that no one was hurt.

She pushed away from him and smacked at him. "What the fuck? The pack will know; everyone will know."

He tilted his head. "Honestly Leah, did you think it was going to be a secret?"

"Wh…" she stopped.

He snorted. "You did? With the pack mind?" He guffawed. He leaned over and laughed out loud. Smacking at his thighs.

She wanted to growl at him. She didn't appreciate him laughing at her. "This isn't funny."

"Yeah, it is."

She was really annoyed. She had rushed here all worried and upset to warn him and he was _laughing_ at her. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to see him on the ground below her. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted to…

Holy fuck!

She startled suddenly and stepped away from him. Reversing. Not taking her eyes off him, as if he was the source of the danger.

He kind of was.

He gave her a quizzical look. He lifted his head and sniffed. He stretched up to his full height. Then his head tilted slightly and he smiled at her. It was not a pretty smile.

"What's the matter?" It was said in a low, almost cruel tone. He didn't care and as if he didn't know that she was unnerved. His arms moved so that his hands were lifted away from his thighs. As if to grab her as she ran; like a kid's game of tag

She was suddenly frightened of him. He wasn't the submissive, now. And she knew, if it came to a fight, that she would lose. He had beaten her at least twice already. She was a fool to have come here alone.

"You smell all confused," he said. "Excited, nervous and now you're scared. It's a heady cocktail. It's making me think of all kinds of things."

He took a step towards her. She backed away.

"So that's it? Is it? I am your dirty little secret. It's okay to fuck Paul. It's okay to jump him and throw him down on the forest floor to fuck. It's okay to enjoy it. It's okay to scream his name out in your ecstasy but… no one is allowed to actually know about it. It has to be kept a shameful little secret. Hidden away-"

"Shut up."

"No. You can't put me back in the box now, Leah."

"Stop it."

"What did you tell Sam?"

No answer, she just shook her head.

"Oh, come on," he pressed. "It's Sam. The first thing he would have done is worry about you. 'Did bad Paul force himself on you?'" he did a very poor imitation of Sam's deep voice.

"No. He didn't say that. He phased in at the wolf… bit." She didn't know what to call it.

Paul snorted again. "Oh, wow. That is bad timing."

"He said he didn't understand at first-"

"No. Well, he wouldn't. Not his kind of sex is it? And we didn't notice him. Why do you think that was, Leah? Because we were kind of busy at the time?"

He was much closer to her now. She could scent him and he smelt very excited.

He kept talking, "Because we were busy fucking like animals?"

She backed away and ran into a tree trunk. Fuck. He had her so unnerved she couldn't even run away properly.

"I didn't let it slip," he said. "Did you? Did you show Sam what we did, to upset him some more? To be bitchy, Leah?"

"No." She whimpered.

"But you wanted to, didn't you? You wanted to fling it in his face. Look at me, Sam. I fuck Paul now. And I fuck him like this."

"He called me Leelee." What a pathetic defense. Was that all she had?

"And you hate that."

His hand reached out and grabbed her around the neck. He held her hard. She could feel his fingers digging in.

"He went there, in the forest," she whispered. "He sniffed it out. I told him he was a sick stalker."

"Oh, ho. Did he now? I like that. My wolf loves the idea of the alpha breathing us in. Don't you?" He leaned down and breathed her in; running his face up her neck. "Us," he repeated.

She whimpered again. She could not move. It was as if she was frozen in place.

"Do you think he'll come here, too?"

"Why would he come here?" She managed to lift a hand and clutch at his arm, but it didn't make any difference.

"Because I am going to fuck you against this tree." Suddenly, he asked again, "What did you tell Sam, Leah?" his voice, low and intense.

"I told him that he can't tell me who I fuck or don't fuck. It was not alpha business." She paused. "I told him to fuck off."

"You told the pack alpha to fuck off?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know how hard that makes me?"

She didn't need to answer him. He pressed his groin up against her and she could feel how hard it made him. She groaned.

He pulled back, she managed to suck in a breath and then he slammed into her again. Her head banged against the tree trunk.

"Stop it," she hissed at him.

"Make me," he taunted.

"You know I can't," she confessed.

"Yeah, I know." A secret smile. "You are not going to tell _**me**_ to fuck off, are you Leah?"

"No," she almost yelped it.

She wouldn't turn her head away; exposing her neck meant acquiescing, but that was all the fight she had in her. She tried to mouth breath so that she couldn't smell him; but he was everywhere. His body pressing against her. His hand still grasping her neck. His mouth pressed against her jaw.

He nibbled along it, the same way his wolf did when they were phased. Gnawing at her muzzle. She took in a shuddery breath. She closed her eyes. But with her eyes closed and surrounded by him, she had memory flashes of their time together. Bad idea. That got her excited.

Her hands crept up to grab his hips.

He made a low hum noise that managed to sound pleased. She had touched him; he liked that.

He was rocking his body against her now. Little gentle thrusts; pressing himself into her. It made her think of other things. Fucking. He was fucking her with their clothes on. She moaned.

He stopped the rocking movement. The hand at her neck dragged her up to his face. "Get your pants off, or I'll tear 'em off."

She made a small wounded noise. She hastily unbuttoned her shorts and let them drop. His hand reached down, dove inside her panties and straight into her folds.

"Wet," he breathed. His hand pulled back and down and her panties' waistband snapped. "That's better." He sank two fingers inside her to knuckle depth. She shifted her feet to let him in.

"Umphh" she grunted.

"Now my cutoffs," he ordered. He didn't have a hand free; one around her neck and the other buried inside her.

She hurried to comply. She could feel her excitement level rising as he fucked her with his fingers. His cock sprang out. She wrapped her hands around him. He felt massive. She could hear herself panting. She lifted one leg out of her shorts, leaving them around her other ankle.

He didn't kiss her. His hand shifted around to hold her neck at the front; he was half choking her. He held her up against the tree and he thrust into her.

She lifted her hand to his head. She grabbed his hair behind his ear. She pulled his hair hard enough to make him grunt. The other hand wrapped around the arm holding her neck. She dug her nails in.

He stared into her eyes. Staring her down as he fucked her. Her back slammed into the tree bark. The angle he was at rubbed everything and he moved easily in and out of her. She was saturated. She could hear how wet she was. And she could feel how big he felt.

They were both panting. Almost unblinking. Driving into her with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs.

"Yes," she panted.

She was on tiptoes. Her whole body straining. His hair between her fingers and his blood under her nails. She shuddered as she came; biting her lip to keep in the scream.

He made a few more punishing strokes before he pulled out of her. His hand wrapped around his glistening cock. He jacked himself off until he came all over her bare stomach. She could not take her eyes off the fluid pumping out of him in decreasing streams. He said something unintelligible as he came. It sounded like a cross between a swear word and a prayer.

And then he rubbed it in. He was still holding her immobile. She moaned as he did it.

"Now, they will all know," he whispered to her.

He had branded her. She would reek of his jizz for days. The whole pack would know.

"Bastard," she grumbled.

"Bitch," he replied.

She tried to move but he wouldn't let her.

"I haven't finished with you, yet."

She inhaled sharply.

His hand returned to between her legs. "You enjoyed that didn't you?"

She bit her lip.

"Answer me."

"Yes."

"I can tell."

He stroked her until she orgasmed. He was gentler now and, at some point, he had let go of her neck and she hadn't even noticed.

He still hadn't kissed her. She half wanted him to.

He kept going, teasing her again with his long fingers until she screamed. It was too sensitive; now it was like being tasered.

"Stop, please," she begged.

He stopped. He let her get dressed again. He let her go home. He whispered into her ear.

She ran.

She looked back. She knew she shouldn't have, but he was standing there, still naked, with his hand wrapped around his cock. Lazily jacking himself off again as he watched her run away.

His last words were burning in her ears.

"You'll let me fuck you again? Won't you, Leah?"

It was only when she stopped at the nearest garden faucet that she realized what he had been doing. Delaying until his jizz had dried. It was completely dry and had crusted onto her stomach. She went home and had a shower and scrubbed her skin raw.


	15. Chapter 15

**chapter 15**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul stood there watching her run away from him. What the fuck had he just done? Gone all dominant on her. Freaked her out big time. Made her cream her jeans big time.

And then he had chased her away.

He inhaled. He was still hard. He wanted to jack off again; over the tree this time. Really mark it.

"You actually think you'll get back in her pants after that?" He put it away. Did up his cutoffs and leaned his face into the bark, smelling her.

"You are a fucking idiot!" he told his wolf. And maybe, himself.

He pulled his head back and smashed it into the tree. Marked it with his blood instead.

Sam had been delayed getting Emily settled in bed. As the pregnancy progressed, she got bigger and found it harder to get comfortable to sleep. He waited until he was utterly certain she was deeply asleep before he left the house.

He wanted to ask Paul what had happened between him and Leah. And he'd have to go over there to ask him. Stupid phones. He knew Paul. He didn't need to get in-between the girls, at least as far as Sam thought. Paul did very well with women. Always had. He had no need to wreck their relationship. And Sam wasn't sure that Bella was okay with it. Leah had said she was, but he just wanted to ask. He rationalized that it was alpha duty.

He found Paul, just near his place, half naked and smacking his head into a tree. His forehead was bleeding.

"**Stop!"** he alpha ordered him.

"Sam," Paul whispered. "Perfect."

"What the fuck are you doing? And why does it reek of-" He sorted through the scents: blood, sex and Leah. "Oh fuck! What did you do?"

"I fucked her against this tree."

Sam wanted to growl at him.

And Paul knew that.

"You want to hit me, Sam? Huh. Why don't you lay one on me? It'll make you feel better."

It took every ounce of iron self control that he had. "No," he said through gritted teeth. "I think you've hurt yourself enough."

A bitter chuckle from Paul. "Yeah."

"Did she come to talk to you?"

"Yes."

"And you fucked her."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She wanted to hide me. She made me feel like shit."

"And then you proved to her that you were?"

"Yeah. Fuck!"

"Is that her blood?"

"No. Mine."

"Did you…" he didn't know how to ask that. "Did she fight you?"

"She likes fighting me," Paul said.

"Right." Sam sounded as if he didn't believe it.

"She didn't say no, but …she was scared and she ran away afterwards"

Sam inhaled audibly. "You are walking a fine line, here."

"I know."

"What about Bella?"

Paul looked up at him. "What about her?"

Sam noted his obvious concern. "You're fucking her partner. Does she know?"

"Yes. She knows. Fucked her too."

Sam blinked. "I'd say I understand, but I really don't."

"Leah asked me to."

"Okay," Sam said, "now I'm completely lost."

Paul looked miserable.

Sam cleared his throat. "Why didn't Leah just tell me that?"

"It's you asking."

"She's still angry."

"Not as much… but, yeah. She's still angry. You have to let her go, Sam."

"I'm getting relationship advice from a guy who just forcibly fucked a girl against a tree?"

Paul snorted. "You know I'm right. Let her go."

Sam ignored that. "I phased in the other week."

"Yeah; she told me."

"Quil suspects too."

"I told her that she couldn't keep it a secret. I don't know why she even tried. Unless, she's ashamed of fucking me."

"You confuse her. You confuse me."

"Yep. I'm a mess."

"I'll try to keep the wolf thing secret. I really don't think either of you want that getting out."

"Leah definitely doesn't."

"The other sex, we can't keep secret."

"No. I rubbed it all over her. They will all smell it."

"Christ! You can be a bastard sometimes."

"I know. Leah told me that."

"Stop hurting yourself. Stop hurting other people," Sam begged.

"I'll try."

Sam clapped Paul on the shoulder. "Good. Go! Pull the splinters out of your pretty face before it scars."

"Girls like scars."

Sam snorted. "You'd know more about that than me."

He thought about it later. Paul did know women, so why was he messing up with Leah so badly? Sam had no answer to that one; he had messed up with Leah pretty well on his own.

* * *

After Leah's long shower, her legs still felt shaky. She knew Bella was asleep. She could hear her calm, even breathing.

Bella. She hadn't even thought about her while she was fucking Paul.

Or being fucked by Paul, might be a better description.

She could not go into the bedroom; not yet. She sat on the lounge and put her head in her hands.

Paul had been so different. And what the hell was that about? He had been submissive to her before, but that? It had shocked her to her core. He had immobilized her. Ordered her about. Marked her with his scent. She had fought with Sam; she had stood up for herself, but she couldn't fight Paul. Why not? Because she had already lost to him?

She always lost to him in the forest. She had been especially stupid to approach him alone. She knew she had issues with him. And to do it outside? It was dumb.

She thought back over his behavior. He hadn't _been_ Paul; not the one she knew. He had been someone else. He had been like an alpha version of Paul.

She didn't want to think about whether that was the real Paul and the one she knew was a fake. Or wonder what the heck the pack would be like if he ran it.

It had to be the wolf sex; the fight between them, that she had lost. Something had definitely changed, but she didn't know what.

'Us' he had said. Like it meant something.

She had pissed him off trying to deny him. How would she feel if he had done that to her? He probably had a point; she'd feel angry and rejected if he had denied her that way she had denied him.

She'd probably feel like hurting someone. And she had been the closest person, to him. So he had hurt her.

She had fucked it all up.

She had been trying to be the perfect girlfriend for Bella but perfect girlfriends didn't fuck other people. Even if they had both done him before.

She needed to tell Bella. And she needed to tell her now.

She climbed onto the bed and lay down behind Bella. She still reeked of Paul but Bella wouldn't detect that.

She put her arms around her and cuddled her, even though she was still under the blankets.

"Bella? I need to talk to you." She kissed the side of her head.

She stirred and grizzled at being woken up.

"Please, baby," Leah begged her.

Bella blinked sleepily at her. Leah sat up, reached over and turned the lamp on.

"What's wrong? What time is it? Was Paul okay?"

Leah suddenly heard an echo. Paul's question when she had first approached him and had been so nervous was, 'is Bella okay?'

"He was… angry."

"Angry? Why?" Bella tried to sit up. Leah shifted some pillows behind her back to support her. She sat near her; folded up on herself.

"Was he angry with Sam?" Bella asked.

"No. With me."

"Why?"

"I… made a mistake."

Bella rubbed her face. "Huh?"

"I panicked. I was so intent on trying to hide it and he got the idea that I was ashamed of being with him. He laughed at me and I got annoyed. I wanted to hurt him," she whispered.

Bella frowned, but didn't speak.

"He knew somehow. We argued."

"Okay."

"He went all dominant on me."

Bella looked doubtful and slightly suspicious. "What happened, Leah?"

"We had sex."

Bella blinked. She looked down at her hands. She started to tear at one of her fingernails with the fingers of her other hand.

There was silence for a little while.

"I-I wanted to t-tell you," Leah whispered.

"You woke me up to tell me you cheated on me?"

"What? It's Paul. It's not cheating."

"I know we have both had sex with him before, but we said it wasn't happening again, Leah. You _told_ him it wasn't happening again."

"I wish it hadn't happened."

"I doubt that."

"What?" Leah was astonished.

"I am fairly certain that you enjoyed yourself."

"Jeez, it wasn't pretty. It was angry sex."

"Never is pretty with you two, is it?" Bella sounded bitter. "Oh no, Bella, you can't watch us together because we will be all rough."

"He had hold of me around the throat," Leah argued. "It must have left a bruise." She leapt off the bed and rushed to the wardrobe mirror. She peered at herself craning her neck and, of course, could see nothing. She was a fast healing werewolf. "Fuck!"

Bella glared at her from the bed. "So you wanted to hurt him and he ended up hurting you?"

"Yeah. I suppose."

"While he fucked you?"

A whisper now, "Yes."

Bella stared at her face as if she didn't recognize her. "Did you tell him 'no'? Did you actually say 'no, Paul. I don't want to have sex.' I have to go home to my girlfriend. Did you?"

Silence. Leah could not say it. She hadn't told him no. He had even suggested that she wouldn't tell him to fuck off. He was right. Again. And she had said that she could not make him stop.

Bella looked bitter. "That's what I thought. And I don't think he hurt you. Not really. Was there blood?"

"Yes."

"Whose?"

Leah tried to think. He hadn't made her bleed. He had immobilized her, but he hadn't made her bleed. She had pulled his hair and sunk her nails into his arm. "Only his," she confessed.

"Exactly."

Bella rolled over, facing away from Leah. She wrapped herself up in the bedclothes.

Leah could smell tears.

"Please baby, don't cry. Please don't cry." She wrapped her arms around the Bella cocoon. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I will say 'no'. Really I will. There won't be a next time. I promise."

Bella sniffed. "I don't think you should make promises that you don't intend to keep."


	16. Chapter 16

**chapter 16**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

In the morning Bella put on a brave face; she literally just tried to pretend that none of it had happened. And Leah let her do it. Leah had promised that it wouldn't happen again, and she had to trust her. She wasn't stupid. She did understand that both Leah and Paul had a dual nature. She knew Leah loved her; but she also suspected that Leah could not say 'no' to Paul. Paul had told her that his wolf had won the right to mate, when the two of them had fought in the forest. She thought that had something to do with it. She didn't know for sure and she wasn't brave enough, right now, to ask.

She was willing to give Leah another chance. She hadn't been completely innocent, herself. She had thought about Paul a lot. For heaven's sake, she had bought condoms 'just in case' she had sex with him again. They had used them, as it turned out, but she had bought them knowing that they might be used. Just purchasing them meant that she was considering it. And she hadn't talked to Leah about that. She hadn't told Leah how she felt about Paul either.

Leah was very subdued. Bella didn't know how much sleep she had got. At some point during the night, Leah had gone away and left Bella alone. It was only then that she had been able to go to sleep. She woke up with eyes sandy and sore from crying.

"Seth is coming for dinner tonight," Leah reminded her.

"Should we cancel it?"

"No. There's no point."

"Okay. Are you sure?"

"Yes. Do you need me to shop?" Bella cooked, Leah shopped. It was their usual division of labor. Bella usually gave her a list.

"No, thank you. I have everything already sorted."

"Okay." A pause. Leah looked haunted. "You should go, you'll be late."

"Mrs Newton likes punctuality."

"Yes."

They made an awkward movement as if to hug each other and then didn't.

* * *

Leah went to the gas station. She looked so down, George asked if she was okay. She told him that she was, but he frowned as if he didn't believe her. She managed to avoid any other wolves, but she knew once Seth got a sniff and phased, it would be all over the pack. Gossip traveled very fast through the shared mind of the troupe.

When she got home they hugged and kissed and it felt almost normal. With a lighter heart, Bella started preparing dinner.

Leah met Seth outside the house. She grabbed him and dragged him away from the house by the arm.

"What the fuck?" He was about to argue with her when he got a whiff. "Oh, Leah. Paul?"

"Don't lecture me, Seth."

"Lecture? I said three words."

"It just happened… okay?"

"No. It is not okay."

"I know! I can't explain it now. Just please, don't say anything to Bella."

Seth looked horrified. "You want me to lie to Bella?"

"No! She knows. I just want you to not talk about it."

"She knows?"

"Yes. But she doesn't need to be reminded."

He looked doubtful. "Why?"

"Please, Seth. It's too raw. I just need some time."

"Time," he repeated.

"Yeah. Please,"

"Don't hurt, Bella."

"Too late."

"Oh, Leah."

"It's all fucked."

He sighed. He really looked at her, now. "Did you sleep last night?"

"No. Not much."

He hugged her. "I don't know what's happening between you three, but I know you are upset about it."

She hugged him back. "Thanks, brother."

They went inside together. Seth was extra huggy with Bella.

They ate, laughed and chatted together. It all seemed a little too happy to Seth, as if they were trying too hard. The laughter too loud. Maybe he was just hyper sensitive. It wasn't the way they normally were; he would have noticed even if he hadn't known what was wrong.

He went to the bathroom and scented something out of place. He tracked it to the main bedroom. He stood there and stared at the bed. Could it be?

And then he realized that the same scent was all over Bella, too.

Leah had to go on patrol.

"I'll be back late; I feel like going for a long run," she said.

"You could do a big circuit," Seth suggested.

"Yeah. That's a good idea." She leaned down and kissed Bella soundly. "Don't wait up for me, beautiful." Then as she stood, she noticed the dirty dishes. "Crap! Leave the dishes; I'll do them when I get home."

Bella made a face. "They are easier to wash now. It doesn't matter; I'll do them."

"I'll help," Seth offered.

"Cool. I owe you one," Leah said.

They watched her leave. Bella stood, grabbed an armful of plates and headed for the kitchen.

"I'll wash," Seth said. "Then you can put them away. I don't know where everything goes and I know you like things in the right places."

They worked in silence. He glanced up and Bella was staring out the window. She had stopped drying.

"What's up, Bella?" As if he didn't know.

"Relationship troubles, Seth."

"I've got no sensible advice there. I work hard to avoid relationships."

"Running away?"

"No," he joked. "You have it all wrong. I don't run from relationships, just from commitment. I'm only young, you know."

"Like Paul."

"And your relationship seems to be pretty good." He ignored the Paul mention but it made him brave enough to ask about it. As if Bella was hinting at it.

"Seems to be," Bella repeated. She sounded sad.

Seth looked concerned. "Bella, can I ask you something?"

"You just did," she joked and then she apologized quickly. "I'm sorry, Seth. I'm being flippant. Ask your question."

He didn't. He stared into the dishwater and made a circular pattern with the scrubbing brush.

"Seth?" she prompted.

"I'm not really sure how to ask this and it might seem like an odd question, but has Paul been around the house recently? And you know, maybe he was in your bedroom?"

"Yes."

"He was?"

"More than once."

Seth glanced at her. Did she mean what he thought she meant? Did he have the right to ask? "And you knew he was there? What's going on, Bella?"

"Ask your question, Seth. I know you still haven't asked what you really wanted to."

"Did you have sex with Paul? Or was it only Leah?" He didn't seem able to look at her as he said it.

When she didn't answer, he finally raised his eyes.

She was just staring at him; her face blank. She sighed.

"Shit! I'm sorry," he said. "It's none of my business. Forget I asked that."

"It's okay," Bella whispered. Seth was one of the few people she felt she could talk to about all of this. She was kind of glad that he had brought it up.

"Yes, I did. But Leah knows about it. I am not cheating on her. In fact, she kind of arranged it. And we all did it together once; here. That might be why you can smell it."

Seth looked bewildered. "Ahh ... okay... I don't understand. Why?"

"It was me… and guys… I wanted to know what it was like… sex." She blushed and fiddled with the dishcloth in her hands. She picked up another plate.

"Ah… you wanted to have sex with a guy?"

"Yes. I was curious." She was intently drying the dinner plate.

"Edward?"

"Not before marriage."

"Wow." Seth's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

A nod.

"Wow," he repeated. "So, you chose Paul?" he checked, when he'd got himself back together.

"Yes. Did you 'see' something? I know it's hard to keep secrets from the pack."

"No. Honestly, I just smelt it. Here, in your bedroom. That's why I thought it was odd. Leah grabbed me outside and she told me you knew about _her_ and Paul. Although given she is covered in his scent, I thought she might not be able to smell if he had been here."

"I knew we should have gone to his place-"

"No - that would be worse," Seth interrupted.

"Why?"

"The pack are in and out of his place all the time."

She nodded. "The pack is not good for keeping secrets, is it?"

He just shook his head.

"Why Paul?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Leah wanted someone who knew what they were doing, is the way she put it. He interested me." She paused, then added, "I kind of like him."

"Oh." Seth looked at her. "Bella, I think that plate is dry."

She gave a nervous chuckle and deposited the very dry plate in the cupboard. "That's an issue, too," she added.

"What is?"

"That I think I kind of like Paul." She whispered it.

Seth was silent.

"I am terrified that I have ruined everything," she added. She looked out the window again; in the direction that Leah had run.

"What does Leah think? Should I talk to her for you?"

"No, thanks Seth. She chose him because she kind of likes him, too. But you know Leah, she won't admit that. That's the other problem."

Silence.

Seth washed.

Bella dried and put away.

Seth spoke, "You know, when you two first got together, Sam had a crisis of masculinity."

"What?" Bella snorted. "Seriously?"

"Yes. He thought that he must have done something wrong; been a bad lover and turned Leah gay."

"Oh, my."

"Quil nearly broke a rib laughing at him."

"He would."

"But Embry put it the best. He just said it was all about you and nothing to do with Sam." He paused for a breath. "Leah loves you; the fact that you are a girl is irrelevant."

"Well it kind of is relevant. Her being a girl means our relationship is so different. I can only compare her with Edward, of course, I have never had another boyfriend, but it's really… intimate. She's like my best girl friend and my lover; all rolled into one." She blinked quickly as if she was going to cry.

"You didn't really have a best girlfriend at High School either," Seth pointed out.

"No, not really."

"So why Paul, then? I assume it was more than a one time thing? It smells recent."

"Yes, that's the problem. It was supposed to be just once, and we said it wouldn't happen again, but it has."

"That doesn't sound like Paul."

"I know right?" She gave a strained chuckle. "The guy who is famous for his one night stands. The plan should have worked perfectly."

"So why didn't it?"

"I don't understand."

"Well, think about it, Bella. If it was just casual sex, then Paul would come and go (or go and come or whatever) and that would be that. You'd never see him again. That's the way he always is with women. He usually doesn't do repeat visits, if you know what I mean. I don't think he has even ever _had_ a real girlfriend. You know, that he'd go on proper dates with. So what was different about it with you guys?"

Bella twisted the dishcloth in her hand. "I can't really speak for Leah, but I think he and I connected somehow… on an emotional level… it wasn't just the sex."

Seth frowned. "You connected? With Paul?"

"It's hard for me to say, not having done it before. But it felt… I don't know… and to make matters worse-" She stopped talking suddenly.

Seth looked very worried.

Bella sighed and then continued, "Leah connected with him, too. Not her, so much as her wolf."

"Her wolf?"

"I think she likes Paul's wolf. Oh, my God, that sounds so silly."

Seth looked intense and serious. "She's on patrol tonight," he paused, "With him."

"Oh. I didn't know that. Did she know that?"

"Yes."

Silence.

Bella gave a bitter chuckle. "I think I can guess what they will be doing. She told me it wouldn't happen again… but she can't help herself. She told me he goes all dominant on her. She can't deny him."

"You don't mind?"

"I do and we have fought about it. But I feel like I shouldn't. I mean, how can I be angry with her? After all, I started all this and I…" she stopped again.

"Did him too," Seth finished.

"Exactly."

"No, if you both agreed it had to stop and Leah is still doing it… then I call that cheating." Seth took a deep breath. He swished around the dishwater, looking for any lost cutlery. "I don't know what to say… but what I really don't understand, is why Paul is still doing this."

"It's Paul," Bella said. "Clearly he is _still_ getting something that he wants out of this."

"Right! Otherwise he would have run a mile."

"But Seth, I am so worried."

"What worries me, is that if Leah is seeing Paul tonight, then she lied about it to you."

"She didn't lie; she just didn't say anything."

Seth gave her a look. "There is no difference."

"I know. I'm pathetically trying to defend her. Maybe it was because you were here?"

Seth shook his head. "She just needed to say 'I'm on patrol with Paul tonight' and you would have understood, but she didn't say that either."

Bella looked crestfallen. Leah had lied to her before, about having had sex with Paul twice. But Seth didn't know that. "No, she came up with that whole long circuit story and 'don't wait up for me' excuse." Her face twisted. "Oh, God," she wailed. "If I lose her because of a stupid wish of mine…"

She threw her hands over her face.

Seth hugged her. He rocked her carefully and crooned.

"What am I going to do?" Bella asked, as she sobbed into Seth's shirt.

Seth didn't answer her because he honestly had no clue.

* * *

Leah shrieked.

Paul had just hit something inside her that actually hurt. He was so far inside her, she thought she could feel him pressing into her lungs.

She was on hands and knees in the dirt. He was behind her. His hands went under her armpits and his fingers were locked around the front of her shoulders; clutching her to him with crushing force. He was ramming himself into her. His fingers were bruising the top of her shoulders where he gripped her and yanked her backwards onto him. He grunted with every thrust and she made her own panted exhalations. Hers were rising in pitch as she approached orgasm.

They came together with the force to break normal bones.

"Yes!" she yelped. "Yes."

Seth could hear them from miles away.

He had left Bella to go to bed and he had tracked Leah. He wasn't entirely sure why. He wanted to confirm that she had lied to Bella or had at least covered her meeting with Paul. Part of him was hoping that Bella was wrong.

But Bella was right.

They were having sex. He didn't need to see it; hearing it was bad enough.

* * *

"Oh yes, oh yes," Leah cried out.

She had sworn that this was not going to happen again. She had gone out to do her patrol. She was going to ignore him. But she knew the second he phased in.

He wanted to talk to her. He might have been trying to apologize, but their wolves just took over. She tried to block him out. She almost tried to run away, but her careful, wide and distant circuit turned into running towards him. And she knew he was coming for her as well. Just the thought of that made her wolf excited.

Running towards each other as fast as they could go.

They had arrived in that clearing at the same time.

Stared at each other across the space. She could not stop her; her wolf had skittered nervously over towards Paul's wolf, and had almost rolled on the ground in front of him. She had behaved like an excited puppy. Wagging her tail frenetically. And his wolf had been equally pleased to see her; giving her wolf kisses. Licking across her muzzle and gnawing gently at her snout. They snuffled and played. And before she knew it, they had phased back and crashed into each other. Fur and long tongues were replaced with hands and smaller teeth and tongues.

And other parts.

* * *

When Leah got home, Bella was up, waiting for her. She had tried to sleep and had given up. Then she had sat about imagining what they were doing and getting more angry every minute. She could tell from the incredibly guilty look on Leah's face, the second she saw her, that her suspicions were correct.

"I suppose you need a shower," she snarked. "You did it again, didn't you? Had sex with Paul."

"I didn't mean to. My wolf just took off towards him."

"Right." Bella looked truly annoyed. "You just fell on his dick."

"You can't understand-"

"No. I can't. I'm not a _**wolf**_." She emphasized the last word.

"No."

"One day! You made me a promise and you broke it the next day. Is it even twenty four hours?"

"Barely."

"But you got so upset and angry when he cuddled me in the kitchen after your forest thing… and you said I couldn't have him. You said 'no'. And you insulted him. But he knew then that you enjoyed it and he said that was what you were angry about. Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"So, I've been sitting here thinking. And I have worked out that I like fucking him, too. To use your words. And I think I will keep doing that. You do, why shouldn't I?" Bella threw the words at her. Hard enough to hurt. "If he'll have me, of course. He won't say no, will he?"

"Oh." Leah's voice was so low, Bella could barely hear it.

"And you can't say anything. I don't need to ask your permission. Because Lord knows, you never bothered to ask mine."


	17. Chapter 17

**chapter 17**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Sam was kicking himself. He had forgotten to change the patrol roster. He had left Leah and Paul on together. He phased and came out to check as soon as he remembered it, but the only person phased in was Seth.

_Seth?_

_Sam?_

Seth's head was full of what he had just heard.

_Sam: Oh, man. Again?_

_Seth: Yeah._

_Sam: Crap. I forgot to change the damn roster. I should have swapped him out or something._

_It's not your fault, Sam. You have enough to do._

_Maybe. _Sam's head suddenly held images of pregnant Emily and worries about how they would both cope with a new baby_._

_You'll be fine._

_I am not just concerned for them and whatever other poor sod phases in. If they are going at it like this, then a fucking vampire could walk past them._

_True. They wouldn't notice._

_Yep._

_So whose fault is it?_

_Fucked if I know. How's Bella?_

_Sad._

Seth showed the memory of Bella crying.

_She cried?_

_Yeah. She's pretty upset and confused._

_Christ. What a mess._

_I could kill him. Why doesn't he keep away from her?_

_You wouldn't kill him, but Jake might._

_Oh, Hell. That's a thought._

_Go home._

_I can't sleep now. Can I do patrol?_

_Sure. When they phase back in, tell them both I said to go home._

_IF they phase back in._

_Fuck!_

* * *

Bella finally slept. She was emotionally exhausted but she was also angry. That was a new thing for her. In the past, she had been through periods of extreme terror like when she had been chased by the vampire James and their final meeting at the ballet studio. But this kind of seething resentment was new. It was anger that boiled and stewed.

She started off being angry with Leah mostly, and Paul a little less so. She felt his actions were more unaware; maybe for him it was just reckless disregard for the consequences, rather than a deliberate act.

Then her anger shifted to the wolves. If dratted werewolves didn't exist, then none of this would have happened. Then she went back further still, and got angry with herself for even moving to Forks. None of this would have happened if she had just stayed in Arizona. Her poor cactus plant might have survived too. What had possessed her to make her want to come and live with her father?

.

.

But, if she hadn't moved to Forks she would never have met Edward and the Cullens. She sighed. She would not have fallen into the supernatural deep end of the pool of life. She would not have met people who were extraordinary (in every sense of the word) like Jake and Seth with their enormous hugs. And Sam with his heavy responsibilities and all the others too.

Like Paul.

And Leah.

And as difficult as it had sometimes made her existence, she wouldn't change a thing. She wouldn't even wish that she had not fallen in love with Edward, because if that hadn't happened, she wouldn't be where she was now.

She thought back over her romance with Leah. Leah loved her. She lay alone in their bed; the one that had come from Leah's old room in the Clearwater house and now was set up in the bedroom of the home they had made for themselves.

It was their home. Theirs. As a couple.

She missed her.

She got up, out of bed and went looking for her.

The house was empty.

She sighed again.

Maybe she had gone for a run. She didn't think she would go to her mother's house. Seth had not been judgmental but Leah was avoiding a lot of things. Seth would be one of them. She also ran when she was looking for escape. Bella didn't think she would have gone to Paul. Leah often tried to solve her problems on her own. So she would be out in the forest; it was the only place left to her. She definitely wouldn't go to Sam's.

Bella hoped that she found a solution in the forest. She looked out the window and thought about Leah as a wolf; slim and gray. Maybe she was asleep; curled up in a ball? Thinking of her like that made her feel warm and she realized something.

She was not going to let her go.

She wanted to fight for Leah. Even if Leah couldn't fight for herself.

Leah had been there for her before. She had been the strong one. Now she needed Bella to be strong for her, too.

It was the wolf thing; she knew she was right about that. And there were **two **wolves in this equation.

She needed to talk to Paul. If he didn't know what problems his actions were causing, then he **needed** to know. It was about time that he learned about it.

Paul.

Another sigh.

She had told Seth that she kind of liked him, and she did. She liked him a lot.

But she needed Leah. And if she wanted to blame herself for moving to Forks then she had to blame herself for wanting to have sex with Paul, as well. That was what had started this whole thing off.

She had the day off tomorrow, luckily. If she hadn't, she would have called in sick. She didn't want to stay in the house. Leah might run to solve her problems, but Bella cleaned. She would go to Charlie's for the day. She could find something to clean there. Cleaning gave her some small sense of order and control over her world.

She would write Leah a note. So that she didn't panic and think she had left.

She gave a bitter chuckle.

How funny, it had never occurred to her to shout at Leah that she was leaving her. Or to demand that Leah should start packing. It just wasn't an option; even then. And that told her a lot about herself, too. And to be really honest with herself, having sex with Paul in retaliation just wasn't an option either. If she did that, even if he agreed, it would be a poisonous act that would have even more far reaching consequences. It was just the worst thing she could think of to say in the heat of the moment.

If she went to Charlie's, it would also give Leah time and space to come back to the house.

She did want her to come back and she did want her to stay.

She would talk to Paul; face to face. She would need to phone Emily later and find out where they were working. It would take a lot of strength to talk to him, but she would do it… for Leah.

She went back to bed, resolved on how to fix this. She thought over what to write to Leah in the note until she fell asleep again.

The next morning, the house was still empty. She showered and dressed; skipped breakfast for lack of appetite. She just drank some coffee.

She wrote a note for her lover.

_Leah,_

_I love you._

_I do not want to lose you. I have gone to Charlie's to clean. I will be home for dinner. We can talk then. Please be here._

_Love,_

_Bella._

She left it on their little table between the salt and pepper. She knew Leah would find it.

On the drive to Forks she thought about Jake. What would be his reaction? She could not imagine that it would be good. She knew she should talk to him about it too, but he always made her life about _him_. He could only be hurt by her sleeping with Paul, but right now, she didn't have the strength to fight with him as well. Her first priority was Leah.

* * *

Paul closed his eyes for just a second and when he opened them again, Leah was gone. Shit, he must have fallen asleep.

He was conflicted. He had been trying to apologize for going dom on her and then that had happened. Wow. His inner wolf was extremely happy but Paul, the man, was confused and he had a feeling that had been the wrong thing to do. While it certainly seemed as if she had accepted his apology, he had some doubts. She had clearly enjoyed herself, but she hadn't hung around and they hadn't really got to talk, either. He thought they might have needed to talk, more than fuck. Although the fucking was awesome! He loved her scent all over him.

He shrugged. Ah well, he'd catch her later. Or maybe now, if she was still around?

He phased in to check.

_You!_

_Seth?_

_Sam said to go home._

_Go home?_

_Yeah._

_No patrol?_

_No. Just fuck off home._

_What's with the shitty mood?_

_You have no idea, do you?_

_Ahhh… no. Or I wouldn't be asking. Duh._

_Bella._

Suspicious._ What about her?_

_Leave Leah alone._

He almost growled at him_. Look, you stupid pup. You have no idea what you are talking about._

_I know it's wrong to take someone that isn't yours._

Paul picked up an image flash of a crying Bella; wailing over what she was going to do about Leah lying to her.

_Fuck!_

_Dammit. Stupid pack mind. Just FUCK OFF!_

Seth phased out before he could give away any more secrets.

What the fuck was that about?

Oh shit! It was all going wrong. Christ, he was no good at talking to girls, just good at fucking them. He was tired and sore after their animalistic sex and he wanted to go home and sleep. He'd talk to Leah or Bella tomorrow… yeah. She was crying right now and wouldn't want to see him and besides Leah was probably at home by now and there was no way he was walking into that shit storm. Crying women. Tomorrow. Yeah. That'd work. They wouldn't want to see him now anyway, he rationalised.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah was running to Forks. Human. It was only fourteen miles.

The only person she could think of that would let her in was Charlie Swan, even though it felt weird to go to Bella's father. She had nowhere else to go. She didn't want to stay phased and share her thoughts with Paul, just in case he was phased and doing the patrol on his own. She had snuck away when he fell asleep. She felt bad about that. Not for leaving Paul as he slept happily on the forest floor; she felt bad about letting Sam down by skipping patrol. Letting Sam down again. But she had been desperate to talk to Bella. And that had gone so well. Heavy sarcasm. She probably should have stayed and talked to Paul; kicked him awake as she felt like doing.

Bella. She almost wailed.

She had hurt Bella… again.

She couldn't stay in the house and hear Bella's sniffs and feel her anger and pain.

So, she had run.

She couldn't go to her mother's and she couldn't go back home. She was ashamed and distressed.

There was nowhere else to go.

But as she loped along the road, she saw the gas station. George had a double wide set up out the back.

Leah knocked on the door. She knew he was there; she could smell bourbon and she could hear football commentary and see the blue, flashing light of a television screen against the closed curtains.

George opened the door and peered at her sleepily. "Whazzup?" His beard growth was grizzled, his usual checked shirt unbuttoned and rumpled and he had obviously been asleep in his recliner.

"Can I sleep here?"

He blinked slowly. "Had a fight, huh?"

Leah nodded.

"That sucks."

"Yeah."

"Don't have a spare bed."

"That's okay; I will sleep on the floor.

"Heck, Leah. You don't need to do that. Got a perfectly good chair." He waved at the recently abandoned recliner.

He handed her a blanket, turned off the TV and went to brush his teeth.

Leah had a drink of water and lay down. She could hear George moving around. She still smelt like Paul. She thought she could ask Seth in the morning to bring her a change of clothes. The only good thing would be that she would be at work early and the scents would get overlaid with the strong garage smells of fuel, oil and rubber.

* * *

Paul was at work building the frame walls of a house. He had no shirt on, as usual. His tool belt slung low around his hips. They were legally required to wear hardhats and it seemed odd to see him with his hair hidden from view. Bella watched him from her truck.

He had headphones in his ears and clearly hadn't heard her pull up. But Sam had. He called out to Paul and jigged his head towards where the truck was parked. It was pretty clear that she wasn't going to go over there. She had been parked there for a while now. Trying to work up the courage.

Paul looked over at her and said something to Sam, who nodded. Paul put his equipment down, took off his hard hat and hung it on a nail, ran his hand through his hair and glanced over at her again.

And then he jogged across the road to her. She watched him do it. How he could jog in work boots, she did not know.

She wanted to stay hidden in the truck even if it wasn't really hidden. She didn't want him too close to her. She was as bad as Leah, sometimes.

"Bella," he greeted her. He leaned in the window.

She nodded. She couldn't speak. She was fighting against her desire to touch him.

He frowned a little. "What's up?"

She had to talk. That was why she was here.

She took in a deep breath. He was still watching her.

"Talk," she said. She was ordering herself, but it would do for Paul as well.

"About?" he asked. Reduced to one word sentences as well.

"Leah."

He nodded. "Sex."

"Yes."

He didn't apologize, she noticed.

"She told me about the tree." Yay for her. More than one word. "She didn't want to, but she had to, after lying to me before."

"I know. Seth showed me."

"Seth did? Oh." She stared down and wouldn't look at him.

"He didn't mean to. You were crying. You okay?"

"She told me about last night, too."

"I came over this morning, but neither of you were at the house."

"No. I went to Charlie's. I don't know where Leah is."

He looked concerned. "Can you get out of the truck? I can't talk to you like this."

She looked doubtful. "I can't…" she shook her head.

"I'll keep my hands to myself," he promised.

She gave him a look.

"I promise," he repeated. "Please, Bella."

He reached down and opened the door.

She huffed out a breath, but she got out and stood with her back against the truck and her arms folded.

Sam watched them surreptitiously.

Paul looked as if he wanted to touch her. He put his hands on his tool belt.

"You're upset," he stated.

"Yes, I am. With you and with her. We had an awful fight about this last night, after Leah got home. I was so upset that I told her something horrible."

Silence. He was staring at his boots.

"I told her that I would… fuck… you, too."

His head lifted suddenly.

"But, that would be wrong," she added. "I said the most hateful thing I could think of. And it would be wrong for us all. And especially wrong for you to be used in such a way."

"I don't mind," he tried to joke.

"Yes, you do. That's exactly what made you angry with Leah in the first place."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose it was."

"So I won't do that." She paused. "And you have to stop, too."

"What about what you want?"

She ignored that question. "Leah says she can't help herself. That her wolf makes her do it. I think you have more control over your wolf… and I am asking you…" a tear trickled down her cheek. She brushed it away angrily. "I am asking you to… stop." Her voice was only a whisper, now. "Please… just … stop."

She let out a sob and he grabbed her. She put her hands up as if push him away, but they just pressed against the bare flesh of his stomach. And then she was hugging him, too. Her arms around his waist.

"Shhh," he comforted her.

"I can't lose her," she wailed. "I just can't… I'll never survive it again."

He hugged her close, pressing kisses into her hair. His arms wrapping around her; her face pressed in against his chest. "I'll stop," he promised.

"She's my lover and my best friend… I can't lose her… I can't. You can have anyone you want. She is all I have got."

"I know and I'm sorry." He kissed her hair again.

He held her until she stopped crying. Then he kissed her incredibly gently in the center of the forehead.

They didn't say anything. There weren't enough words to say it all.

And then he helped her back into her truck. He stood there and watched her drive slowly away. And then he tilted his head back and he screamed, "FUCK!" to the sky.

* * *

Sam looked at him as he walked dejectedly back to the work site. He lifted both eyebrows. "Wow," he said. "That looked pretty intense. Did you just get dumped?"

Paul stalked back and forth. "Yeah… kind of."

"Don't punch anything we have to pay to fix," Sam said, hurriedly.

"Christ! I didn't even think of the consequences. I just went in there to have fun. "

"Yeah, dick first. Like you usually do."

Paul glared at him.

"Hey, just saying. And I told you that night that you were walking a thin line."

More angry stalking.

"So, what **was** that?" Sam asked.

"Huh?"

"Leah I get…the whole wolf thing… but that was… Bella."

"I know." Paul looked utterly tortured.

Sam remembered how Paul had been concerned about Bella the night he was head butting trees. "You told me she knew about it and was okay with it."

"I thought she was."

"She didn't look it, now."

"No. Things have kind of changed."

"Oh, man." Sam shook his head. "How the fuck do you get yourself into these messes?"

"You said it, Sam, dick first."

"Yeah. And your brain just hasn't been in this one. You had to know Bella would get upset. You promised her that you would stop. Are you gonna do it? Is she right? Can you stop your wolf?"

Paul seemed unsurprised that Sam had heard the whole conversation. "Yes." Gritted teeth. "He is out of control right now. I'll rein him in; I'll do it… _for her._"

"For Bella? Fuck. You really are in trouble." Sam sighed. "Will you need more patrols or less?"

"Dunno."

"Okay then. Clear as mud."

Sam thought about it while he was working; he found that he could think better if his hands were busy.

"Here's the deal," he said to Paul. "I think you need to go away for a while."

"Okay. Why?"

"Couple of reasons: you need to get a handle on your wolf. He's dragging you around by the dick. You need to get him away from Leah and let her get hers under control, too. Plus you probably need to be far away from Jacob."

"Shit yeah. He doesn't know yet?"

"I'd say not by the fact that your pretty face isn't bleeding."

"Fuck!"

"Also. I think you need to do some serious thinking. It seems to me that you just promised a girl you care about, that you will stay away from another girl you care about in a different way."

"Fuck! Is it **that** obvious?"

"I don't know. But you've been hanging around Bella like a bad smell for a long time now. And that," he pointed over to the road where her truck had been parked, "That was something else."

"I know."

"Go up and make yourself a nuisance to your father instead of me."

"Good idea. Thanks Sam."

"I'll ask Embry to talk to Jake. He's the only one who might break it to him gently enough, to not have him running after you."


	19. Chapter 19

**chapter 19**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Seth was sound asleep when his phone rang. He reached for it and knocked it onto the floor. "Fuck!" He scrabbled around until he found it and then answered it without looking at the screen. "Umnfgh?"

"Seth?"

"Leah."

"Did I wake you?"

"Yeah."

"Shouldn't you be at school?"

He rolled his eyes. Sisters. "I did _your_ patrol." Score one for him. Brother 1: Sister 0.

"Oh." A pause. "Thanks."

"I was going to go in after lunch," he conceded.

"Good."

"You okay?"

"Getting there."

"How's Bella?"

A sigh. "We had another fight. She's angry."

"Bella is? Wow. Well, you did fuck him again."

"How-?"

"I heard it."

"Shit!"

He could hear noises in the background. "You're not at home."

"No. That's why I rang. I need a change of clothes."

"You want me to go to the house."

"Please?"

"You are a coward."

"Yes." Brother 2: sister 0.

"You're at the gas station?"

"Yep."

* * *

He did it for her. She was his sister after all.

He let himself into the house. It wasn't locked.

He noticed the folded note with 'Leah' written on it in Bella's handwriting, propped carefully on the dining table. He felt a moment of panic. Bella wasn't here. Had she left Leah? He glanced around. No. Everything was where it was meant to be, in Bella's usual style.

Seth was worried, though.

He had prided himself on being the only person who had observed the delicate seduction of Leah and Bella. And their eventual love. Of course, he had seen them asleep on the floor together, right back at the start. But still, he was pretty observant and this latest turn of events was worrying him.

He didn't really blame Paul; he was such an opportunist. If you offered him something, he'd take it. And damn the consequences. He seemed particularly oblivious of the damage he was doing Leah and Bella, though.

Sam had known about it, so maybe Paul was talking to Sam about it? Seth was annoyed with himself for leaking the memory of Bella upset, but he just wasn't as good as some of them at hiding stuff. He was what he was, you know? An open book.

But it wasn't like Paul to give something up if he _really_ wanted it, either.

He took a deep breath and flicked open the note. He read the contents and heaved a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. Bella wanted to fix it. She wasn't going to give up on Leah. But what was Paul going to do?

He borrowed Bella's motorbike from Jake's garage to deliver the clothes. When he handed them to Leah, Bella's note was on the top.

She glanced up at him. A panicked look on her face.

"Just in case you didn't go home, and you missed it," he said. "I thought you should see it."

She looked at it. She looked terrified of it; as if it would bite her.

"Did you read it?" she asked.

"Yeah." He should lose a point for that. Brother 1: Sister 0

"What did she say?" her voice was tiny.

"She loves you, she doesn't want to lose you and she wants you to go home."

"Oh," Leah put her hand over her mouth and blinked quickly.

Seth hugged her; clothes pile, letter and all.

"Thanks, Seth. You're the best."

Neat. Brother 2: sister 0.

"Go to school," she ordered.

He grinned at her. "Sure, sure." He thought of something. "I might see Jake at school."

"Oh shit, yeah. Can you keep all this a secret? Just until we sort ourselves out?"

Seth nodded. "I can try." Brother 3: sister 0.

Man, did she owe him?

* * *

Leah took a break and showered and changed into the clean clothes. There really hadn't been any point before. Thank God for Seth. She read the note over several times. She stopped panicking about Bella and determined to be home to talk to her; as requested.

Back out on driveway duty; she was changing the water in the windshield washing container when she felt as if someone was watching her. She looked up and saw him. She actually startled; dropped the bucket.

"Paul." Shit! She even said that out loud. "No - not here," she begged.

"I won't do anything," he said as he walked towards her slowly and carefully.

"I don't believe you," she hissed at him. Her arms were like rods by her sides.

George must have seen him approaching. He stuck his head out the office door. "Need any help?"

"No, it's okay he's a…"

"Friend," Paul supplied.

"Is he?" George looked doubtful. "Really? Holler if you need help."

"Thanks, George."

They both waited until he had gone back into his office.

"What do you want?" she asked him.

"I came to say sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Yeah… for everything."

"Right."

Awkward silence. Paul jigged his head towards the side of the building; out of George's sight and hearing range. She nodded.

He went first. She didn't trust him behind her. Fuck. _Behind her._ She stamped out the memory flashes.

They were hidden by the ice storage bin.

"What?" she almost growled at him. She leaned back against the cold metal of the ice machine. It gave her enough of a shock to keep herself under control. She was torn between punching him out or jumping him. She mouth breathed so that she couldn't scent him.

"We have to be in the pack together. We have to do patrols together sometimes. We can't be fighting with each other, all the time."

"Or fucking," she added.

"Or fucking. It's not gonna work out."

"No." Her wolf whimpered inside her.

"I frightened you and I used your wolf against you and that was unfair."

She stared at him.

"I'll keep mine on a leash," he promised.

She frowned. "What's caused this?" This out of character Paul behavior.

"What do you mean?" He tried to look innocent and failed.

"This change of heart. You came up with this on your own?"

"Half. I knew I had done the wrong thing, that first night, the second you ran away. Head butted the damn tree. Sam came along right then. You can ask him."

"Fuck. Did he see us?"

"He didn't say that he did. But he called me on my shitty behavior. He told me I was proving to you that I _was_ a piece of shit."

"Sam said that?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." She paused. "And Seth heard us last night."

"Yeah. He swore at me when I phased in."

"He did?"

"Yeah. You have more defenders than you know."

"Or you have more attackers."

A half smile. "Right."

He studied her. His dark eyes serious. He gave a heavy sigh. "And then this morning, Bella came to see me. She asked me to back off. So I'm going to do that."

"She did? I didn't know that." She leaned towards him a little and sniffed. Yep. He smelt like Bella. "She got close to you," she accused.

"She did. She cried and I hugged her."

"Shit."

"Part of this started because I thought Bella knew stuff and she didn't. I thought you had told her everything."

"I know. You never lied to her. I fucked up. I didn't want to frighten her by telling her about the pegging-"

"But you let her think that she was just nothing but a hurdle to me. And that was wrong." He frowned at her.

"I know I wasn't honest, but I can't tell her that stuf-"

"She's tougher than you think she is," he interrupted.

"She's so fragile."

"Leah, you deceiving her is what is hurting her now. Be honest with her."

She looked at his face.

He looked unsure of saying what was on his mind, but he said it anyway, "She told me what she said to you… about fucking me in retaliation."

Leah wasn't sure what to say to that.

"She said she wouldn't do it. It was just a horrible thing to say, I think she called it."

"It hurt." She whispered it.

"She knows that."

"And it would hurt me further if you both did it; although I get why you would want to. Even if it was just to hurt me."

He sighed. "That's a double standard, Leah and you know it."

"I know it."

Silence.

He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. "So… I'm saying sorry."

"Okay. I'm sorry, too. I was pretty shitty to you."

A nod. A tiny smile. "You were great… that was the problem."

She snorted. Paul and sex. "You, too." An awkward pause. "Okay, then."

"Okay," he repeated. "Look after Bella," he added.

"I will. But you'll be around. Won't you?" She tried not to sound anxious that he would leave.

"Not for a little while. I am gonna go lumber-jacking with Dad. Take a break. Get out of your hair for a couple of weeks."

"Oh. I can't leave."

He frowned a little.

"No more running away from me," she added.

"No, please don't run. You have to stay with Bella."

"Yes."

"It's Sam's suggestion. A bit of distance might make it easier for us all to sort this out. If the pack needs me, I can get back fast."

"True. Thanks, Paul."

"No problem, Leah." He gave her a serious look. "Don't lose her, Leah. She's worth it."

"This whole thing started with me trying to do the right thing for her and I almost lost her in the process."

"Just tell her that. And love her."

"I do."

"I know you do." He waved a hand ineffectually. "I should go."

"Yeah. See ya." She folded her arms before she hugged him.

He pursed his lips and nodded. He turned and jogged away. He must have parked his truck nearby; she would have heard it otherwise. Sneaky bugger.

She took a deep breath now he was gone.

Gone.

She went back around to the front of the gas station.

George looked at her. "Do you know what you are doing?"

"Nope."

"Huh. Join the club."


	20. Chapter 20

**chapter 20**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: I have Paul talking to his wolf. It's a one sided conversation but I think you can work out what the wolf would be saying. I used this technique before in 'Hurt' and it worked okay… I think… lol]**

* * *

Bella drove back to Charlie's like an old age pensioner; very slowly and carefully. She was shaky and still very emotional.

She parked the truck and then sat in the cab for a while to think.

She had told Seth that she felt a connection to Paul and seeing him again just confirmed it. She had never thought that he might feel a link to her as well. She had asked him to back away from Leah and he had agreed. Not only that, but he had apologized and he had been nice to her.

'_What about what you want?'_

She heard the echo of that question in her head. She wanted Leah; that was easy. She was going to fight for Leah.

But…

It had been so hard not to touch him. He had stood there, half naked as usual, all hot and sweaty. And when he had held her and comforted her she had felt much better. She touched her forehead where he had kissed her. She thought she could still feel it; like a brand.

He was going to stop. He had promised. This was a good thing for both her and Leah.

She had looked back. She had glanced up to the rear view mirror and seen him. She had promised herself that she wouldn't do it. But she had seen him shout at the sky. Was it anger? Frustration? Despair?

She didn't know and asking him now was not an option.

She left the truck and went back inside her old home. She had half cleaned the stove; put all the parts in the sink to soak and sprayed the oven with oven cleaner.

Charlie was home. She had been so busy thinking and staring at nothing that she had not noticed his patrol car.

"Thought it was you," he said.

She jumped.

"Sorry, kiddo. Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay, Dad. I was a thousand miles away."

"I had already ruled out the benevolent burglar theory. It's a rare person who breaks in, cleans a man's oven and then leaves."

"Half cleans," she corrected.

"Ah-ha, so that's your cunning plan. Make me finish the job, huh?"

"Maybe." She smiled.

Charlie brushed his mustache with his fingers. "I need a shower," he said. "What about I do that and then take you to a late lunch at the diner?"

"I'd like that and it will give me time to finish the job."

"Good."

On the way to the diner, Charlie's standard lunchtime place, he glanced at her. "Everything all right?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

"Leah and I had a fight."

He stayed silent. She would tell him if she wanted to.

"Relationships are hard, Dad."

"I know. And I am no expert."

She closed her eyes; trying to center herself. "She didn't tell me something and then she tried to hide it. She had to lie about other stuff to cover the first one."

"Yep. That's what happens." Another glance. "Now the issue is trust."

"Can I believe her the next time?"

"Yeah."

"Hopefully there won't be a next time."

"Yeah, that too."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, kiddo."

Charlie had seen Bella's odd behavior at the store when they had run into Paul and his father. That showed what he knew. He would have bet money on Bella being the one with something to hide; not Leah. She showed up, clearly distressed & agitated and cleaned the house like a loon. Something was very wrong. He wondered where Leah was and if it was worth discussing it with Sue.

* * *

Jake hadn't heard. At least until a taciturn Embry showed up at his door after school.

"A word?" Embry asked.

"What is it, Embry?"

"You'll hear soon enough."

"Hear what?"

"Sam asked me to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Jake was getting annoyed. "Just tell me whatever this huge secret is."

"Paul fucked Leah and…" he hesitated, "and Bella."

"WHAT? Our Leah and Bella?"

"Well, yeah. Is there another one?"

"No. No there isn't."

"With Paul?"

Embry nodded.

Jake inhaled.

"I'll kill him."

"I think you should butt out."

"Why?"

"You'll make it worse. Paul has gone away. It's stopped. At least he promised Bella it would."

"Bella," Jake repeated; pain in his voice.

"She's okay. Seth said she's confused and a little lost right now. But she and Leah are going to try and fix it."

"I have to do something!"

"Why? Jake, no offense, but this has nothing to do with you."

"She's my friend, Embry."

"Right. So be a good friend. Call her or ask her if she wants any help. But don't go in guns blazing."

Jake looked down at the floor. "Was it me? Was I the problem?"

Embry knew what he was asking. If Bella had fucked Paul, why had she rejected him. "I don't think so, Jake. Sometimes we don't know what is good for us."

He paused.

"Lily is good for you," he added.

"I know. I know she is."

"Be cool, Jake. Don't hurt Lily trying to protect Bella."

"Fuck! That girl! She just messes me up."

"Yeah. Don't I know it?"

* * *

Jared was astounded.

Quil was upset. "He beat me to it!" he wailed. Embry rolled his eyes.

Collin and Brady were excited. Paul was already their hero and now he was having sex with two girls at once. Whoa.

Sam was just praying his life would get easier, but right now, he couldn't see how that was going to happen.

Paul was loping along happily in human form. It was good to go for a long run; clean out the crap and just run. Once he was a good distance away, he would phase and let the wolf out.

His thoughts did stray to Leah. They had done okay with their talk. It surprised him.

He had tried so hard with her. He had apologized. He had said everything she needed to hear. He had backed out. He had done it without lying, or touching her. Even though his wolf sooo wanted to. He had been open with her. He had said that he had held Bella and comforted her. He had reminded her (gently) that _her_ keeping secrets had made small issues bigger.

And he had learned something about her, too. Leah hadn't attacked him, she hadn't fought him, she hadn't even been snarky or run him down. And they hadn't fucked, either. He had a theory that Leah's tough girl outer exterior was just like his; a shield to protect themselves. Neither of them let people get close. But Bella had slid under both their armors; found their weak spots.

He had done everything he could to keep his promise to Bella. He had taken on all the blame; as well as he could, so that Bella and Leah could make up. Get back to where they used to be. Before his dick got involved.

He had learned something about himself as well. He could be nice. He **could** do it. He had tried so hard to be someone he usually wasn't. He had managed it before, when Leah had pegged him. But jeez, he didn't want to have to do it all the time. It had hurt to be the nice guy.

Shit! This wasn't him at all.

BUT. He was hugely conflicted. Sam was right; he hadn't really thought about it before, but he did care about both girls in different ways. Or, more accurately, different parts of him cared about each girl.

But it was early days. Things were still fixable. No real harm done. At least he hoped so. If him going away would help the girls, he would do it. Not much point going away and leaving them to get over it, if he showed up back on their doorstep.

And then he could go back to his usual ways. Toughen the fuck up!

His wolf whimpered. Sam was right about that, too. "You **have** been leading me around by the dick."

He thought of something.

"Shit! Was it you all along? Right from the start?"

He laughed. His usual odd, barking laugh and then said, "Fuck that! It was fun for a while, but it is over now, buddy. You are on cold turkey and a **very** short chain. And no running back to town. You got away on me that night because I wanted to talk to Leah, too."

He stopped running and tried to gauge how far he had come. This would do.

"Okay… I am going to let you out and if you start running back to La Push, there will be trouble… you hear me? We have to leave them alone for a while."

"They don't need us, they will be fine."

"They will! They were okay before we came along."

A sigh.

"I know Leah smells good. And I know her wolf likes you, but we have screwed up her human head. As if talking to myself isn't just as mad."

"We are going to go lone wolf for a little while… not forever… I know you like being part of the pack…Brady and Collin will be okay, too."

"Give her some space. It's not the right time."

"I know you can do that for her. No. She's not in heat right now."

Fuck. That was a thought. What would happen when she was? He shoved that one away.

"Okay? Are you going to cooperate?"

He phased.

It would have looked pretty comical to an outside observer. The supernatural sized wolf jigged one way and then back the other, as it literally fought with itself. But then something else happened.

Jake phased in, fueled with righteous anger against Paul. The man and the wolf gave up their fight against each other and united against the common enemy. And of course, snarky Paul rose to the surface.

_You dickhead!_

_Jeez, Jake, what's in your pants… oh, that's right… nothing_

_Fuck you._

He tried very hard to keep a lid on memories of Lily.

_Whoa… a girl? Well done, Jakey boy._

_What the fuck is wrong with you?_

_Are you changing the subject? You are… aren't you?_

_How could you do that to them? Force yourself on them._

_**What?**__ Who told you that?_

_Embry._

_He never said that… because it isn't true._

_Whatever. So you fucked Leah __**and**__ Bella. You are sick in the head._

_Yep. __**And**__ at the same time. You should try it sometime…_

_Fuck off._

_Fuck you, baby alpha. They asked me into their bed._

_I don't believe you._

_And it was all kinds of fun… You want to see it? Here take a dig around in my head._

He shut away the pegging; Jake didn't need to see that. He thought of him with both girls… yeah… flat on his back… his cock sunk inside Bella, his hands holding Leah's ass and her taste, slightly musky and spicy as he fucked her with his tongue… his wolf was exceedingly smug…

_**ENOUGH!**_

_You definitely should try it… but you'd have to get your girl to share… I could come over one night-_

_I will hurt you._

_A laugh. You'll have some way to run…_

_Where are you?_

_Miles away from you… taking a short leave on Sam's orders._

_Good._

_You should go talk to him… might help you get some of your facts straight._

_Right. Just be glad you ARE miles away…_

_Is that a threat? He snorted derisively._

_You are such a jerk._

Jake's head was full of thoughts about Bella and her consistent rejection of him. Why did she want Paul? And not him? He had to phase out before he gave too much more away.

_Well sounds like I am almost back to normal. Irritated him so badly he phased out._

He and his wolf had come to a truce. He was sure hoping it wasn't a temporary one.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Bella drove home after the lunch with her father. Normally she would have stopped in at the gas station and said 'hello' to Leah, but today she stoically kept her eyes on the road. She wasn't ready for their talk just yet. She noticed the note was gone immediately and had a moment of self-doubt. She had put it there?

She was going to phone Leah and make sure she was coming tonight, when she saw she had a text from her. She must have missed it at lunch.

'Seth gave me the note. Cya 2nite. L'

Phew. She felt better after that; a little less nervous. But then Leah was late and Bella got nervous again. She had all the ingredients to make pasta sauce. The water boiling on the stove. She kept topping it up.

Leah came in the door apologizing. "I'm sorry I'm late. I ran to the gas station last night and then I forgot that I had no way to get home again."

"So you ran back?'

"Yeah."

"You big silly, you could have called me and I would have picked you up."

"I didn't want to trouble you."

"It's no trouble."

They both stopped talking. Leah was standing in the middle of the living room; Bella still in the kitchen.

"Do we talk first or eat?" Leah ventured.

"I vote for talk." Bella looked around the kitchen with a pursed mouth. "I'm not sure I can eat now."

"Me too. My stomach feels weird."

"Okay then."

"Right."

Silence.

"I'll start," Leah said. She kept watching Bella.

"Okay."

"I am an idiot. I am so sorry. I will over share forever if you want me to."

Bella shook her head. Still staring at the kitchen counter.

"What?" Leah asked.

"Don't do that; just be you. But do tell me stuff. Tell me things that affect us. I don't need to know what color shirt George wore to work today-"

"Red. They are always red checked."

Bella looked up and frowned at her.

"Sorry," Leah said.

"I'm sorry, too. I suggested the guy thing and I worry that it made you feel less secure. I didn't want to do it because I was unhappy with you."

"I know; you told me that, but I will admit that I worried about it."

"I can see that now."

Leah added, "And I treated you like a wimp."

"Pardon?"

"The whole reason I didn't tell you what I wanted to do ... you know… the strap on?"

Bella nodded.

"I didn't even ask you about it. I just decided that you were weak and breakable and that you couldn't handle it. Then I tried to keep it a secret to save from hurting you. Which was dumb because_** I **_ended up hurting you, by _not_ telling you.

"I know which injury is more painful," Bella said.

"I'm sorry, baby." Leah took a step closer to her.

"I missed you," said Bella.

"You did?"

"Don't run away like that again. I woke up and I went looking for you and you weren't here."

"Oh."

"The bed is too big and too cold without you. And we could have talked it out then, instead of delaying for another day. But I can't talk to you if you are not here."

"Sorry. I will try not to run away again." Leah was almost at the kitchen now; sneaking up on her.

"So here's the deal," Bella suggested. "We talk! We talk about things that matter to each of us. We don't assume, and we don't try to hide stuff to protect the other person. Especially if it just makes it blow up in your face later. I think honesty is really important."

"You're right. Paul told me that you were tougher than you looked."

"That's not hard; I don't look tough at all."

"You do fine," Leah said. "The girl who dates vampires and wolves."

"When did he tell you that?"

"He came to see me at work."

"I spoke to him this morning at the building site."

"Yes, that was why he came to see me. He told me that he was leaving for a while."

"Oh."

"He thought it was the best solution, so that we can sort ourselves out without him around. Sam suggested it."

Bella thought that was a good thing for both her and Leah. Temptation would be out of reach, even with his long arms.

"Wow. Did he say where he was going?"

"I am not sure exactly, but he said he would go up to help his father. He's a tree feller, so he will be out in the forest somewhere."

"That was nice of him to do that."

"Yeah, it was. Seriously out of character for Paul to be so nice."

Bella nodded. "Yes." He had been nice to her; really nice. But then she thought that he always had been. "What about the pack?"

"What about it?"

"Do they know?"

Leah sighed. "I assume they all know, by now. I don't know how much, detail though. I didn't phase today."

"I get that. I didn't talk to Jake today."

"I didn't talk to Sam, either."

"So we are even," Bella suggested, with a small smile.

"Both cowards," chuckled Leah.

There was silence for a beat.

"You wanted a guy; you kept bringing it up," Leah pointed out. "I really thought it was what you wanted. Did we make a mistake?"

"It is… was," she corrected hurriedly.

They stepped away from each other a little, now.

Leah gave her a look. "Is this going to work?" she asked, very quietly.

"Don't ask me," Bella retaliated; she sounded a little annoyed. "You're the one who's wolf keeps running after him. And **you're** the one who brought yourself into the deal. You having sex with him, was never part of the original idea in the first place."

"What? It was his price."

"Bullshit!"

Leah was taken aback. Bella didn't usually swear.

Bella continued, "He would have agreed and I am surprised that you, with your epic wolf skills, couldn't tell that. You should have been able to tell that he wanted to do it."

Leah was stunned. She blinked and tried to think back to that scene in Paul's kitchen. She had tried to gauge his physical reactions. She had thought at the time, that they were a bit erratic.

Bella glanced at her and looked concerned. "Leah?"

"Fuck me," she exclaimed.

"Pardon?"

"You're right." She punched herself in the thigh. "How did I miss it? He was initially annoyed that I had come over and then he got so calm. That was half the reason why I suggested the pegging, he wasn't giving me any clues. I had been thinking about it, but I wanted to get a reaction from him." She looked agitated.

"And did you get one?"

"Yeah. He was cooking dinner. He dropped the spoon on the floor."

Bella studied her.

"We got played, Leah," she said.

"Yeah, I think we did."

"But I will add a proviso-"

"A what?"

"It's like a condition. I think it might have started for Paul as a game or a challenge, but somewhere along the way, something changed for him. He was so genuinely sorry. I don't think I misread that."

"So earnest," Leah added. She took another step closer.

"So apologetic." Bella finally stepped towards her.

"He didn't touch me. Knew it would be too much for me."

"He kissed me on the forehead." She lifted her hand and showed Leah where he had kissed her.

"He said he could stop." Leah reached out and took Bella's hand in hers. Their fingers laced together.

"So can we," Bella said. "We can put him aside and go back." Bella took her other hand.

"Oh, yes. That was what I kept hoping; that it would all go back to the way it was before."

They stood, very close now; holding hands. Leah leaned down and pressed her forehead against Bella's. "Sorry," she whispered. She searched for her lips. A gentle kiss; another whisper, "Sorry."

"I missed you so much."

Leah kissed her. It was gentle and heartfelt. When she pulled her head back, Bella made a breathless sigh.

"That's better," she said.

Leah smiled.

"Are you hungry now?" Bella asked.

"Not really."

"You know what I feel like?"

Leah shook her head.

"Ice cream."

Leah laughed. "Can we eat break up food when we make up?"

"Why not? I got a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough just in case."

"And we can eat it together."

"Yeah." Bella kissed her.

Leah got two spoons and Bella got the tub and a dishcloth to hold it in. She turned off the heat under the boiling water.

They threw themselves down on the couch, tangled their legs together and dug in.

Leah was playing with Bella's hair. "Hey, you want a bath after this?"

"Come with?"

"Sure."

"Then, yes."

Leah kissed her neck.

She chuckled. "Your lips are cold."

"Ice cream kisses," Leah whispered and kissed her neck again.

* * *

Leah loved having a bath with Bella. She loved touching her; having her lie on top of her in the water. Feeling the contact all along the length of her body. Touch and feel. She hated to admit it but she loved cuddling with Bella. And she cuddled her now; full of the fright that she had nearly lost her. Bella reveled in the attention and the confirmation that they were back together.

"In the spirit of talking," Leah started, "I left the dildo at Paul's place. If you want, I could go get it."

"You mean for us to use?"

"Yeah. If you wanted. I'm a little worried about using a strap-on on you, but there's no reason why we couldn't just use the dildo part. It comes out of the harness."

"Oh." Bella paused as she thought about it. "Okay."

"Good." She stroked down Bella's side. "You could even use it on me, if you wanted."

"Ooh. Now that would be fun."

They clambered out of the bath, dried off and fell into bed together. Leah was usually dominant in bed and tonight was no exception. Bella watched her as she climbed onto the bed. Leah straddled Bella's thigh and rubbed herself down on it. Bella sat up and reached for Leah's breasts. She was at the perfect height; her mouth level with them. She held them in her hands; kissing sucking, and pinching at Leah's nipples until they peaked.

Leah knelt over Bella; one hand under the thigh she straddled, holding it onto her. She ground herself onto it. Feeling her moisture slick on Bella's skin. Her other hand reached down and slid between Bella's lower lips. Leah came first; she was so excited to be with Bella again. Afterward she pushed Bella down onto her back. Bella stared into her eyes. Leah withdrew her hand and sucked her fingers into her mouth. She closed her eyes in ecstasy. She loved the taste of her lover.

Bella shivered.

When her fingers were moist with her own saliva she returned them between Bella's legs and slid them inside her. Two fingers now and her thumb on her clitoris. Bella shattered under her.

She lifted her, held her in her arms and laid them both down on their sides facing each other.

* * *

Leah was thinking as she held Bella close. She couldn't go to sleep.

Paul had played her. The more she thought about it, the more she knew Bella was right. He had somehow masked all his reactions. And she was so nervous that she hadn't noticed it at the time. She wondered idly, if her wolf had sabotaged her somehow. It did want to get close to Paul. Could it do it when she was human? They didn't really get on well. The wolf existed. Leah could not deny that.

But she kind of hated it.

It had cost her everything.

Sam, initially and then her cousin and best friend, Emily. It was pretty hard to be friendly with someone who stole your man.

And then it had killed her father. A heart attack when she phased in front of him and tore the couch apart. Completely unable to stop herself from literally scaring him to death. And then frightening Seth into phasing as well. Her breath caught at the memory of that awful night. She snugged Bella closer.

Then all the extra issues: crazy body temperature, no privacy, a shared mind with a bunch of teenage boys, dangerous missions against vampires and the icing on the cake? Bound to the rez forever. Stuck.

No college for her, like Rachel. No snagging a hot surfer husband on a trip to Hawaii, like Rebecca. No chance of a normal life like that. Marriage and kids.

No children.

The forbidden thought.

She remembered her complete and utter panic when she realized that she no longer had periods; that she had dried up like some old lady. It was too much. She was nineteen, for fuck's sake. As if she could have got onto having kids any earlier?

And what really burned her, was the fact that the cost was so much higher _**for he**_r. The only female wolf. Alone. Misunderstood. Resented by the boys. Why was the cost so much more expensive for her? It wasn't fair.

So, yes, she hated the wolf. She even tried not to think of it as a 'she', but an 'it'. A thing.

A thing that had ruined her life.

And had almost cost her the only person she had. Bella.

Stupid fucking wolf.


	22. Chapter 22

**chapter 22**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

[AN: QI is a TV show with Stephen Fry, and it said 'lumberjack' was a Canadian term not used by Americans who call themselves 'treefellers' - no one corrected me, so I guess you all knew what I meant. Now someone tells me it is 'loggers' so I am all kinds of confused now.]

* * *

Nikiti Lahote heard a sound in the forest and glanced up. "Aaagh." There was a gigantic wolf standing feet away from him. "Fuck! You scared ten years off my life."

The wolf sat down; its tongue lolling from its mouth.

He peered at it suspiciously. "Are you laughing at me?"

No answer, of course.

"What are you doing here?" he asked it.

The wolf shook itself and then its fur seamlessly coalesced into the tall figure of his son. Naked.

"Can't a boy visit his dad?" he asked.

_Boy? Yeah, right_. "Uh, huh. Who are you running from?"

Paul was usually honest. It was part of the reason why he annoyed some people. He didn't dissemble and he was sometimes too blunt. Like calling Bella the 'Leech lover'; accurate, but not polite.

"Two someones, actually."

"Ah. Let me guess- Leah Clearwater."

"Bella **and** Leah."

Niki nodded. "I told you, you were insane."

"Yep."

"You packed light," he pointed out, with a wave of his hand to encompass his nudity. "Not a lot of luggage there."

A grin was the initial reply. "Yep."

"Clothes?"

"Nope."

"Food?"

"Nope. I'll hunt," Paul offered.

"Right."

"I can hunt for you, too."

"Venison?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Salmon, too."

"So you're staying?"

"If I can."

"We can work something out." He was his son. He wasn't going to throw him out.

"I sure hope so."

Niki frowned. That didn't sound like his brash, cocksure son. "You'll need to work, too."

"I knew that."

"You got leave from your other duties?"

"The pack?"

A nod. "And building work with Sam?"

"Sam told me to come annoy you, instead of him."

"He's a smart man."

"Yeah … I think he is, you know. He's a good alpha."

They nodded at each other.

It was done.

* * *

"So what work do you do, anyway?" Paul asked. They sat around a small fire. Niki had a tent set up. Paul assured him that he could sleep outside.

His father gave him a questioning glance.

"I'm serious. I always tell people you are a tree feller but that's not quite true, is it?"

"No. Not any more. Now I am more of a tree counter."

"A tree accountant?" Paul chuckled.

Niki chuckled, too. "Kind of." He pulled two beers from the cooler and passed one to Paul. "Couple of ways they can steal trees; a company gets a license but they move the boundary pegs and cut timber that wasn't part of the agreement. Or, they take more than they should inside their allowed zone."

"No clear felling," suggested Paul.

"Heck, no." He took a sip of his beer. "And then there are the jerks with a chainsaw. They don't care about the environment or the ecology. Taking a huge old growth tree out can damage several others and destroy the canopy. And their favorite argument is that their grandfather used to do it, or some such shit."

"Easy to catch, though. Just grab them on the road. Pretty obvious if a guy has half a fucking tree in the back of his truck."

"You'd think so, but no. Illegal search and seizure."

"What the fuck?"

"I know. And they get stupid and desperate. One guy tried to run over a forestry officer with his truck."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. He just shot him." Niki gave an evil chuckle. "Self defense," he added.

"Uh, huh," said Paul.

"And unfortunately, one canine officer who left her dog locked in the car and got shot."

"Killed?"

"Yep. And then there are the moss harvesters-"

"Okay, _now_ you are fucking with me."

Niki shook his head. "They can sell it to florists for $1 per pound. One eastern Oregon sheriff's deputy made a traffic stop and discovered the pickup truck had about 3,000 pounds of moss in the bed."

"Fuck! I never thought about it. Moss in floral arrangements?"

"Yeah and the mill sells the stolen timber at the same price, so they make a greater profit. And don't even get me started on Christmas trees."

Paul just guffawed; clutching his sides until the tears ran down his face.

"This is serious stuff and big money," Niki chided him.

"Oh, come on… for trees?"

"Snohomish County officials reckon that the value of thefts there reaches about $1 million a year. In one county."

"Fuck. That's a lot of moss."

"The correct term is specialized forest products or SFPs. That covers leaves, branches, moss and mushrooms as well as the timber itself. But it's the big trees that you can't put a price on, that really matter. One grove, they took thirty-one old growth cedars. Thirty-one, can you imagine the gap in the forest?"

"Yeah… actually I can." He knew, better than anyone how many small critters relied on the trees.

There was silence for a little while as they sipped their beers.

"Hey, you are a forest protector, too, old man."

Niki laughed.

* * *

Paul proved really helpful to his father. He could tell if a boundary peg had been moved and could tell him who had moved it, if he knew their scent. His keen eyesight noticed small clues, Niki would have missed.

They actually get on well.

Paul's strength was a huge bonus, too.

* * *

"So what happened with the girls?" Niki asked one night. "You ran?"

"Not sure what happened. Got too deep, too fast."

"Too deep?"

"Yeah I thought it would be kind of fun… but it got … complicated." Paul shrugged. "So it made sense to give everyone a bit of breathing space, you know?"

"Told ya."

"You ever wanted two people at the same time?"

"Nope."

"Like you've ever wanted anybody? You've stayed way clear of women and commitments." Paul chuckled.

"Hey, I've wanted people, but not enough to change my life for them. There's an old rule about not falling in love again, if the first person still means anything to you."

"Maybe… but hit them both at exactly the same time… and that is not so easy."

Niki nodded. "I thought it might be my fault."

"What?"

"The way you are with women."

"How could it be your fault?"

"Well, you know… monkey see…"

"Hey, you calling me a monkey?"

He got a look for that.

Niki continued,"If I see women as disposable, maybe you do, too. I have avoided commitment and permanent stable relationships."

"Pfft," said Paul. "Now you sound like that shrink"

"Which shrink?"

"The one you made me go see. It was years ago."

Niki snorted. "Shit. I had forgotten that. Didn't work, did it?"

"Oh, I don't know… she was pretty."

"Don't give me that… you were a little boy."

"Yeah." A mischievous grin." But she _was_ pretty. I didn't mind going to the sessions."

"Not that they helped much."

"She helped… what? You saying I'm not the perfect son?"

"Perfect? Jeez. Let's see… sleeps with anything that moves."

Paul chuckled. "Not anything. I've got standards."

"Really? You're safe?"

"Ha! Wolves are infection resistant."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. High body temperature kills everything."

"Lucky for you."

A snort.

"Still need condoms for birth control, you know," Niki reminded him.

"I know. You taught me well-"

"If it's not on, it's not on," they chorused.

"And then," Niki added, "he drops out of school…"

"I've got a job instead and I have to do my patrols. Not enough time for school and study, as well."

"Right. I still would have preferred you to finish school."

A shrug.

"Oh, come on. You know education is the key to get off the reservation."

"That's it. I can't get out. I'm a wolf. Tribal guardian and all that crap."

"Shit! Sorry, Paul. I never thought about that."

"Nothing you can do about it."

"That one IS my fault."

"Yeah. It's genetic." Another grin. "I'll let you take the blame for that."

Niki thought about it. "Could have been me, I suppose. If they needed wolves back then."

Silence for a beat.

"Is that how it works? What does cause it? I mean, why are you needed now?" Niki asked.

"Vampires. You know, the Cold Ones."

"What the fuck?"

"That is pretty much what I said."

"They are REAL?"

"Yep. And used to live in Forks."

Niki made a leap of understanding based on some instinct. "The Cullens."

"You got it, old man. See… you're not that slow."

"Pfft. Watch it, boy." He punched him in the shoulder affectionately. "I saw you that time in the forest, but I never actually thought about what you were hunting."

"I get that. Who thinks that vampires really exist?"

Niki shivered. "Makes me feel less safe in my own forest."

"We'll look after you. What the fuck did you think we were doing when you saw us?"

Niki blinked. "I was near a vampire?"

"Not that day. But we always run past and make sure you are okay."

"I have wolf babysitters?"

Paul laughed again. "Yeah. Something like that."

Niki shook his head as if the thought that his son looked after him was too much to believe.

* * *

Paul phased in frequently to keep up with the pack and make sure they still didn't need him. One day, worst luck, he caught Leah. He squashed down his wolf's happiness at seeing her again.

_Leah?_

_Paul?_

_You okay? How's Bella? _He asked quickly.

_Good and good. What about you?_

_Cool. Hanging with my dad._

_Good._

It was kind of awkward and strained. Each of them desperately trying not to think about sex.

_Paul: I should go._

_Maybe. Save me from saying 'good' again._

_Yeah._

_Okay. See? That was different._

_Good._ He was cheeky. She could hear the smirk. He phased out.

She had a minute to herself and then Jake phased in. They were supposed to meet at a clearing.

_Was that Paul?_

_Yeah._ She was still thinking about him and Jake caught the edge of it.

_What were you thinking? With Paul?_

_Don't, Jake… just don't._

_How could you do that to Bella?_

_You don't know anything about it. And I hate having to share all this shit with whoever happens to phase in and put in their two cents on MY life._

_We're a pack-_

_Yeah? Well I wish I fucking wasn't part of it._

_Don't say that. The pack's pretty good-_

_For you maybe. But you're not the only female._

_It's our heritage._

They had reached the clearing by then. Leah was angry and losing it. She didn't want to be a wolf; fuck knows what it would do. Run to Paul if she lost it? She wanted to be human.

She phased back and screamed at him, "Don't give me that shit, Black! You get to be alpha one day; top dog! You get to be the fucking chief of the whole tribe. All because of your heritage."

He phased out and shouted back at her. "Those things are not bonuses; they're burdens."

Leah snorted. "Bullshit. What do I get? Have you actually ever added it all up?"

"Like what?"

"I lost Sam, I lost Emily, and I killed my father!"

"Oh, Leah."

"I'm the only female. I get all of you lot sniffing my ass. Sometimes literally. I never get to go away. To leave. To go to college like your sisters."

"Hey, we don't get to do that, either."

"I have to share a head with my ex!"

His lips closed and he frowned.

"The only thing I have is … Bella." She looked mutinous. "And you know what else, Jake? I'm naked and you don't even see me as a girl anymore."

"Yeesh, Leah. You can't have it both ways."

"Why, Jake? Why me? Why not your sisters? You phase! They should do it, too. They get a life. They get the normal life, with partners and babies. I don't!"

He reached hand towards her but she ignored him. It was all just pouring out, now and she could not stop it.

"I won the multi million dollar lottery prize." She did jazz hands. "Surprise!" She stalked back and forth, then turned and pointed at Jake. "I am a dried up old sow. So fuck you, mini chief. You don't tell me who I fuck or how many of them. That's between me and Bella. And if I mess it up with her, I will fix it! Not you! She's mine! NOT YOURS. So you can just back the fuck off!

"But Paul?" he managed to ask. He looked confused and hurt.

Leah sighed. She put her hands over her face and took a deep breath. "Paul was her choice," she said in a low voice. She didn't say 'not you' but he heard it anyway.

"Sure, sure. Paul told me that."

Leah clamped her mouth shut. Yay her.

Jake was annoyed. "He's such a jerk. How could she want him? He showed me what you did together. He offered to come over and do Lily. He's a complete jerk!"

Leah snorted. Sounded like Paul was his usual self with Jake. And maybe everyone else, other than them? Typical. Classic Paul to be such an asshole to poor old Jake. _Like she was being. _She didn't need to tell Jake that Bella didn't want him; he already knew that.

"I'm …" she stopped. She couldn't apologize for not choosing Jake. He had not been on either girl's wish list. "I am sure he will be away for a while." She patted him on the arm. "And you've got a girl," she added.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Fuck! You too, huh?"

"Everyone teasing you?"

"Yep."

"Standard pack behavior."

"I know."

"When are we gonna meet her?"

Jake's face hardened. "I dunno."

Fair enough. Why would he want his new girlfriend to meet the girl who had shattered his heart; more than once or a pack that she wasn't supposed to know about? She patted his arm again. "Fair enough. Keep her to yourself, Jake. Don't expose her to the fuckery that is the pack until you really have to,"

"Yeah." A pause. "Sorry, Leah."

"I fucked up. You, as Bella's friend, have every right to haul me over the coals for it."

"Thanks. Consider yourself hauled."

"You wanna hit me?"

"Yeesh. No. You have been spending too much time with Paul."


	23. Chapter 23

**chapter 23**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

The girls were good. Leah tried so hard; a little too hard, truth be told, but Bella was okay with that. She was cuddled, hugged, groomed, embraced and loved. In return Bella fed, cleaned, phoned constantly and almost over communicated with Leah. It proved impossible to over feed Leah.

Leah did her patrols as well. Sam wouldn't let her off those. He said it was hard enough to work out with Paul gone. He did usually pair her with Seth or Embry; neither of whom was judgmental. She thanked him politely and asked after Emily. She even listened when Sam prattled on about the new baby and how excited he was.

Bella decided to learn crocheting. She was determined to make something for Emily and Sam's baby.

"Hand made gifts are special aren't they? Not hokey? Do you think yellow is neutral? We still don't know if it is a boy or a girl, do we? Or green? Should I use green? Would that be better?"

"They'll lose the baby if it's green," Leah muttered.

Bella laughed. "No, baby green is not forest green. It's usually a pastel color. You know a much lighter shade?"

Leah frowned at her. Babies. It was too close to some of the shit she had spouted at Jake. "Have you been talking to Jake?"

"I did see him today. I took over some baking for him and Billy. I think he has a girlfriend."

"I know he does."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me?"

"He was trying to keep it a secret."

"From me?" Bella queried. Then she thought about it. "Oh, yeah, I suppose he might be nervous about that."

Leah nodded. "He said he will keep her away from the pack until he has to."

"Yes. The pack." She frowned at her crocheting now. "Oh, dear. I think I did something wrong." She peered anxiously at the photo on the pattern and then sighed heavily and started un-pulling the work she had already done.

"Wrong, huh?" Leah asked.

"Yes. I made a mistake ages back. I have to undo it back to the beginning of this row." She wound the wool back onto the ball.

* * *

The gossip started. Leah blamed Kim. Jared never could keep his trap shut and Kim was one of those girls who had an opinion on everything, or more accurately, everyone; usually the wrong opinion, too.

Leah had driven Paul away, according to the gossips. Some of whom missed him.

She snorted when she heard that. It was two girls bitching at the gas station. They thought they were out of her hearing range. Fools.

* * *

Bella loved her kitchen but now it was a memory danger zone. The French style pot rack and the cookbook shelf were reminders of Paul. She used them every day and every time she did, she thought of the man who had installed them for her. Paul.

* * *

Leah went to Paul's to find the dildo. The house was unlocked and empty. She wondered at that. Surely Embry would have liked a place to stay; away from his mother. But she knew Paul valued his privacy and his space. No girls at his place.

Hang on… until _her_. They had sex here. In his space.

Oh, fuck. She hadn't thought about that before.

She took a deep breath.

Crap! Bad idea. Mouth full of Paul scent. Agh! Worse idea. Now she had an image of a mouthful of Paul. Her teeth sunk into his pec as he pounded into her. Fuck.

She shook her head.

Okay. Think like Paul. Where would he hide it?

His room. Duh. Get yourself together Clearwater.

She headed that way and then hesitated in the doorway. Maybe she should just go buy another one? No. She could find it, for fucks sake, she could sniff it out. She just needed to find something that smelt like her. That couldn't be hard, given there hadn't been other girls in his room.

Side table drawers? No.

Wardrobe? No.

Chest of drawers. Got it. Second drawer down. Wrapped in old hoodie. Yeah right. Like he'd need to wear that any more? No more layered clothing for wolf pack members.

She lifted the dildo up to her face and sniffed it. Paul had cleaned it for her, but it still retained their scents. Paul and her. Mixed together. A melange of scents that made her shiver.

She grabbed a plastic bag from under the sink. She ended up putting the hoodie in with the rest of the stuff in the bag for camouflage. She'd return it later.

It occurred to her that when they had 'met' phased, that they called each other by their first names and not Clearwater and Lahote, like they usually did when they were being snarky to each other. And he had asked after Bella.

Bella noticed the bag, the second she came in the door. She gave Leah a quizzical look.

"The stuff from Paul's place," she explained.

"Ah." Bella blushed.

Leah noticed. She stalked over and stood in front of her where she sat on the sofa; the bag held prominently in her hand. "You want to go to bed early?" Leah asked.

"N-now?"

Leah didn't answer her, just brushed her hand down Bella's cheek. She heard her inhale.

"Come to bed," she whispered. She held her hand out for Bella to take. When she did, she tugged her to standing and, still holding her hand, led her to their bedroom. She flicked off the lights on the way.

They eagerly undressed; their hands stroking; their fingertips trailing down each other's body. Bella shivered when Leah stroked across her stomach. She pushed her gently, back onto the bed.

She liked to be on top of Bella; to dominate her. And Bella didn't seem to mind it. Her legs were wrapped around Leah's hips. One hand holding her low on the hip, the other around her body and stroking down her back. Leah arched like a cat on top of her; pushing her hips down and pressing herself onto Bella. Her mouth opened and she licked her lips. Bella's eyes were closed. Her chin lifted, her mouth searching blindly for Leah's.

They kissed. Leah's tongue plunging down into Bella's mouth and her hips rhythmically pressing between Bella's legs. When she pulled away she looked down at Bella. Her eyes were still closed and she was panting a little.

Leah leaned right and snagged the plastic bag. It made a noise; enough for Bella to glance over at it. She looked nervous and excited.

Leah dug around in the bag, and then hesitated. "What color do you think it is?"

Bella smiled. "Not sure."

Leah pulled it out triumphantly. "Ta-dah!"

Bella giggled. "Oh, my God. That is so pink." She stroked a finger along the dildo's length. "And its got veins."

"And a cap. Just like a guy."

"Wrong color, though."

"Yeah. They don't make them in Native American russet."

Bella chuckled again.

Leah lifted up her body on one arm and reached down to slide the latex head along Bella's channel. She moaned.

"Oh," Bella gasped, "that feels so different."

Larger than a finger but slimmer than a thigh, Leah supposed. "I want to see it."

She slid down the bed until her face was level with Bella's groin. Bella put her hand on the top of Leah's head; combing through her hair with her fingers.

Holding it firmly in her hand, she stroked the top of the capped head down Bella's clitoris.

She moaned and lifted her hips slightly off the bed.

"What about like this?" Leah asked her.

Leah held it at the base and slid the dildo lengthwise between her legs. Bella really liked that. She stroked and rubbed it between Bella's labia until she was arching off the bed and her toes were curling. She was close to orgasming. Leah knew all her signs. Once the dildo warmed up in her hand and from the heat of Bella's body, it started to smell like Paul again. Especially as she had her own face so close to it. It was like the ghost of him was with Leah in their bed. She knew Bella couldn't scent it, but maybe she was thinking of him anyway, given the phallus had been purchased for him.

She shifted her handhold. Now the sex toy was well lubricated with Bella's own fluids. Leah moved it, her hand around the base now, and held the blunt head against Bella's opening. She pushed it in steadily. Hearing Bella's accompanying moans. When it was all the way in, she leaned down and lashed her tongue across Bella's clitoris. She felt Bella's fingers tighten in her hair. Her whole body jolted as Leah withdrew and then plunged the fake cock back inside her lover. Withdrawing it to enter her again and again, as her tongue flicked unceasingly across her nub.

Bella shuddered. Her body lifted from the bed and she cried out. Her hand pulling at Leah's hair. Her other hand clenched in the bed sheets. "Yes!" she cried out. "Oh, yes! God… Leah."

Leah was so turned on. She needed another hand to slide between her own legs and make her come with Bella. _Or another cock,_ a small voice at the back of her mind suggested.

Bella sat up and reached for Leah's face; pulling her up close to her to kiss. "You taste like me," she whispered.

Leah smiled. "Yeah."

She kissed her way down Leah's neck, and down to her breasts. She kissed between every muscle that defined Leah's rib cage and then she nibbled on her hip bones. Leah squirmed and writhed under her; at war with her dominance issues as Bella pursued her relentlessly. Her fingers buried in the satiny wetness of Leah's vulva. She stroked and rubbed her fingers in her lover until her mouth had traveled down to join them. And she returned the favor. Leah had been quick and flicking but Bella preferred slow and ceaseless. She flat tongued across her clit; pressure and moisture her weapons.

Leah's body stilled, her breathing dropped. Her hand splayed in the air. Bella reached out and their fingers interlaced. She held Leah's hand as she went back to work on her lover. Leah lifted her hips and pushed herself onto Bella's face. Bella turned her hand and slid a third finger inside her dripping channel. Leah gasped and came; hard. Bella kept at her until she twitched and begged her to stop.

They curled up; facing each other. Their arms wrapped around each other and their foreheads together.

And they slept.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah sat on a chair in her mother's kitchen. She had come over, announced she needed to talk and then hadn't opened her mouth. She had her legs folded up with her feet flat on the seat and her arms wrapped around her shins. She was held in a tight little ball.

Her mother looked at her doubtfully. The pose replicated how she clearly felt; constricted.

Sue waited. Leah would get to it when she wanted to.

Finally, she broke the silence. "I almost messed it all up with Bella."

"I knew you were having issues. So did Charlie. What did you do?"

"Paul."

Sue blinked. "You did Paul?" she checked.

"We both did."

"Ah." Sue nodded to indicate she understood. She wasn't sure that she did, but a nod was good. "Why Paul?"

"I didn't want Bella to be hurt. He knows what he's doing."

Sue supposed that he might, given his reputation. "I understand that. An awful first time can be a damaging experience."

"That was the problem."

Sue looked questioning.

"He was _too_ good," Leah explained. "She liked it. She wanted more."

Sue looked nervous. "I'm not sure I am the best person for advice, here."

"I just need to talk to someone, Mom."

"That, I can do."

They sat there in silence for a minute or so.

"So … why did you?" Sue tentatively asked.

"With him?"

Sue nodded.

Leah sighed. "I think it's the wolf."

"She has her own agenda?"

"She?"

"You are the only female wolf, Leah. Of course your wolf is a she."

Leah knew that; she just didn't like to think of her as a 'she'. "So, she has her own plan?"

"That makes sense to me," Sue said.

"It does?"

"Well, think about it. Wolves in the wild have an alpha pair. A male and a female."

"And usually they are the only ones that breed."

"Yes, and if you think of you as the alpha female-"

"Then I need an alpha male?"

"A dominant one. Sam is imprinted. Jake is with Lily and in any case, you have never been attracted to him. He's just not on your radar, or Bella's, I suppose."

"No, she said she loves Jake but not like that. Ages ago, before we were dating." Leah was thinking. Her eyes staring at the wall.

"Is Paul a dominant wolf in the pack?"

"Yes, he is. He's an experienced fighter. He's been there as long as Sam and Jared; longer than the other wolves. And he can fight." He'd beaten her.

Sue asked, "Does Paul know that?"

"The sneaky fucker. Hell, yes! He's smart."

"What do you base that on?"

"He was different with me." Leah almost blushed. "He was more aggressive; more dominant."

"He was what your she-wolf wanted; a dominant male."

"And now, I think that he knew it. Bella and I worked that out recently." She stood suddenly; and looked like she wanted to break something. "He already worked that out. And I… stupid, stupid me. I went to him and offered him Bella."

Sue gave her an eyebrow lift.

Leah huffed out a breath. "Having me was his price, for looking after Bella."

"You did that for her?"

"I love her, Mom."

"Oh, Honey." She hugged her daughter.

Leah sniffed. "And now it's a complete mess."

"Can you get past this? Get back to what you had? Just the two of you?" Sue brushed Leah's hair back from her face, just like she used to do when Leah was a little girl.

"That's the problem, Mom. We can't seem to get rid of him. He went away, but only because Bella asked him to and now it's like he's always there. I can scent him. I remember things. He did some things for Bella and every time she is in the kitchen, she gets this look on her face when she looks at her stupid pot rack. And Bella likes him. I don't think she is in love with him, but he seems to have just made himself cozy in my nest. I know that sounds dumb, but I can't think how else to explain it."

"Maybe he needs it, too?"

"A nest?"

"Kind of. He hasn't had the best home life. His mother was a drug addict. His father has been struggling along on his own after his mother left. I think the Police were involved. But they had a lot of issues before it came to a head. He was only eight or nine when she just packed up and left. You might not remember, but that was when the Lahotes came back to La Push. They lived in Tacoma before then."

"He's Jake's age, the twins and I avoided annoying little brothers and their friends. But you aren't suggesting we are his mother replacements?"

"No. Clearly not if he is having sex with you both. Maybe he hopped into all those beds looking for something. And so far, the wolf gods haven't given it to him, either. He hasn't imprinted and you are the only female wolf."

"No imprint." Leah frowned. "But then, neither have I."

"Talk to Bella, Honey. Don't make decisions that affect the two of you without her input."

"That's good advice, Mom. She hated Edward doing that to her."

"So don't be Edward."

"Ewww. As if."

"Talk to her…"

"Yeah, maybe if I had let her choose… no, I think she still would have chosen him. She was intrigued by him before then. I knew it; that was another reason why I asked him." She hugged her mother again. "Thanks, Mom. I feel better already."

"I hope it all sorts it itself out."

* * *

A couple of weeks passed.

Charlie and Sue heaved a sigh of relief. The girls seemed to be back on track.

Bella bought a real vibrator. She was wary of the ones that had extra added on parts or came in odd shapes or extreme sizes. She stuck with a bullet shaped one with a smooth surface and no realistic shaped balls at the base. It had an adjustable speed setting and was waterproof so they could use it in the bath. Her girlie concession was the color. It was bright purple. Leah laughed out loud when she pulled it out of the box to show her.

"It looks like a gigantic lipstick," Leah said.

"It does a bit. It even has the flat top."

"You know what that's for?" Leah grinned at her.

"Ah. No," Bella confessed. She sat cross legged on their bed.

Leah moved in close and whispered to her. "That is for pressing flat against your clitoris."

Bella looked as if she was thinking about that. "Can I press it on yours?"

Leah grinned. "Sure."

* * *

Niki and Paul had moved well and truly off the beaten path. The truck was left parked and locked on the edge of a fire trail. They had hiked in to the area and set up camp just before dark. Niki carried a cell phone with him but left it off. He would turn it on and check messages each night.

Paul was poking the fire.

Niki had an SMS from the Tacoma Police Department. Paul looked up at him quickly as if his changed heart rate had given him away. They had moved from Tacoma to La Push years ago.

He dialed the number with trepidation.

Paul rose slowly to his feet when he heard the receptionist's greeting. He stared at his father.

Niki knew he could hear every word.

"Detective Russell, please. It's Nikiti Lahote returning his call."

He held for a few interminably long seconds. He and Paul stared at each other.

"Mr Lahote?"

"Yes."

Niki knew it was bad news instantly. The voice was too formal, too bland and careful. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm afraid there has been an incident." A pause. "Involving Shania Lahote."

Niki opened his eyes and saw his son. The hurt look was already on his face. "An incident?" he checked. "Is she…?"

"I am sorry for your loss."

The pat response of police world -wide to death. No real emotion. No real sympathy.

Dead.

"I see," Niki said, carefully. He noticed that Paul was vibrating; his arms trembling. He stood and held his hand out to him. He wasn't sure if it was to indicate calm or to hold his hand. Either way, Paul didn't take it.

"She has been identified, but would it be possible for you to come here?"

"How did it happen?" he asked.

"We aren't sure yet. Maybe a drug overdose."

Paul let out a noise that sounded mostly like a whimper and then he took a jerky step backwards and he exploded out of his skin with a loud tearing noise. The startled looking wolf whined, turned and ran.

"Paul!" Niki shouted after him, but he didn't think he was coming back.

He could hear the tinny voice from the cell phone. "Mr Lahote? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "My son-"

"I thought I heard an animal-"

"I'm in the forest camping."

"Gosh. That one was close to you, then." He sounded relieved. "I can call you back if you need some time with your son."

Niki couldn't have caught up to Paul. He sighed. "No, it's okay. Let's get this done. I suppose that I'm still listed as her next of kin."

"Yes. We'll know more about the cause of death by the time you get here."

"As I said, I'm in the wilderness. It will take me half a day to hike back to my truck-"

"And it's a four hour drive from La Push," the detective finished.

"Yes."

"Contact me when you get here." Another pause. "And, I am sorry."

"Thank you. Detective Russell."

He closed the phone. Stared at it.

Who should he call?

He couldn't follow Paul. He certainly couldn't catch him. He didn't know where he was going, either. But if there was a grief crazed supernatural wolf out there, someone should know. He sighed again and phoned Billy Black.

The storm broke as they finished their call. Billy would call Sam, his pack leader.

Niki thanked him and turned his phone off.

The rain hid the tears on his face. He cried for her. For the person she used to be. For the family he used to have. And he prayed to the gods to look after his son.

In the morning he would pick up the litter of his son's clothing, pack the camp and start on the long walk back alone.

* * *

Sam knocked on the girls' door. Leah got there first. They had been in bed together trying out their new vibrator. Bella appeared behind her doing up the sash of Leah's silk kimono.

He looked serious. "We have a problem," he announced.

"Come in, Sam," Bella said.

He closed the door carefully behind him. "Paul just found out his mother is dead."

"Oh, no," said Bella.

"He's phased and he's running."

"He's coming here," guessed Leah.

"I don't know," Sam said. "But, we won't be able to stop him if he is."

The girls exchanged a look.

"You can't order him to stop?" Leah asked.

Sam shook his head.

"He's ignoring alpha orders?" Leah was incredulous.

"Yeah."

"Shit!"

"Poor Paul," said Bella.

* * *

The storm had broken with a vengeance. Another storm was happening inside the tiny house.

"He's out there Leah, you know he is," Bella argued. She started for the door.

"Don't let him in," Leah said.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"He's out of control."

"He won't hurt us."

Leah remembered how he had slammed her back into a tree and fucked her with dubious consent. "You can't be sure of that."

"I **am** sure. He is already out there, you heard him howl and he hasn't busted the door down, yet. So I don't think he is going to."

Leah felt trapped. "You let him in … and we are done!" she threatened.

Bella looked at her incredulously. "Are you serious?"

It almost hurt her to do it, but she nodded. Once, quickly.

Bella looked at her and then very slowly, she reached for the door handle.

"Don't," Leah pleaded.

"It's not just me he wants, Leah - it's us."

"I d-don't believe that."

"I still think I'm just the icing for him."

Leah shook her head dumbly. She wanted to argue that he really wanted Bella, but it seemed stupid to argue over which of them he was here for.

"He wants you Leah - it's always been you. Sam told us what has happened and I can almost feel him hurting. We _can't_ shut him out now."

"No!"

"If he wanted to come in, he could and we couldn't stop him. You know that. This is stupid. He needs us."

Leah just shook her head again.

Bella announced, "If it was you, I'd open the door." She set her shoulders and she turned the door handle. She stepped outside onto the small porch. She peered out into the rain. "Paul?" She didn't need to shout. She just said it.

Leah folded herself into a small heap on the floor; her arms tightly bound over her raised knees.

He jogged over to the bottom of the steps. The rain poured down his naked chest. Steam rose from his shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked him in a small voice.

He just shook his head.

"Come inside."

"Leah?" he asked. His voice cracked.

"Ignore her. She'll be fine."

He shook his head again.

"Oh, now," Bella chided, "don't you be silly, too. You came all this way for a reason." She held her hand out to him. He reached up and took it. She dragged him inside and shut the door behind him. He just stood there and waited for her. She looked up at him and then she realized that the water on his face was not just rain.

She reached up to put a hand on each cheek. "Sam said it is your mother."

He took in a shaky breath. "My M…" He couldn't go any further. He took another shaky breath. Bella grabbed him. He grabbed her right back. Buried his face in her hair. He made a noise that hurt her to hear; an agonized sob sound.

He cried as if it hurt him. The sobs dragged out of him with their nails clinging to his throat. As if he had never cried before. He was leaning on Bella so hard she collapsed under his weight. He fell to the floor and took Bella with him. She hung on to him. She shifted her feet so that she could sit. He buried his face in her lap and curled his body around her hips. He was lying on his side, curled up in a fetal position around Bella.

Leah looked at them. She stood and hurried over to them. She couldn't ignore him; he sounded like an animal in pain.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. Her hand hovered uncertainly over him and then she huffed out a breath and patted him on the back. She lay down on the floor and wound herself around his back and hugged him, too. The three of them rocked together until his sobs had quieted a little.

"Tell me," Bella encouraged.

"She's d-dead."

"Your Mom?" Bella checked. She wasn't sure how to ask what she needed to know. If she just made him talk, it was start. "When did you see her last?"

"Oh, man," said Leah.

"Didn't ever see her again," he said.

"They left when he was eight," Leah told Bella.

"And she's not seen him since?"

"No." Leah gave Bella a look over Paul's back that she hoped said how awful his mother was.

"It was all my fault," he whimpered.

"How could it be your fault?" Bella asked.

"What was?" Leah asked.

"I called the cops on her. I was sick of the drugs and her erratic behavior."

Bella was horrified. He was only a child; eight years old. "Were you just trying to help?"

"Yeah. Wanted her to stop. Wanted her to be like the other moms."

Now, he was talking at least. And those awful sobs had stopped.

"I didn't know she had a record," he added.

"Oh, shit," said Leah.

"I fucked it up so bad. Cops everywhere. Searching the house. She got dragged away. Dad was so upset."

"You were a child, Paul."

"No wonder she didn't want me," he muttered.

"Did she know it was you?" Leah asked.

"I don't know!" he wailed. The sobs started again.

Bella cried with him. She couldn't stand it.

"Paul?" she asked, when he had quieted again. "My feet hurt."

"Sorry," he said.

"We just need to move." Bella leaned over his shoulders and hugged him harder. "You need to come to bed," she whispered to him.

"Shouldn't be here," he mumbled.

Leah rolled her eyes.

"We are not having that fight again. Just come to bed," Bella stated.

"I'm wet."

"We'll get a towel. Is that the best argument you can do?"

"Yeah."

"Jeez," muttered Leah.

"Don't say it," he warned.

She snorted and managed a small smile.

He lifted his body and clambered to his feet. He didn't let go of Bella. He just lifted her up and took her with him.

Leah grabbed a towel and they all headed for the bedroom. They toweled him dry. He stood there, oddly compliant. Then they undressed as well. The three of them fell into bed. There was some shoving and reordering. Paul lifted up his torso and pulled out a bright purple vibrator from behind his back.

Bella uttered a squeak and grabbed it. She put in in the top drawer of the side table.

In the end, he ended up in the middle of the girls. Flat on his back, with an arm around each of them, and Bella's thigh lifted over his hips.

"I'm sorry for coming here and making you fight," he muttered.

"Shut up, Paul," the girls chorused, in a good natured way.

Silence.

His fingers brushed their flesh as if to make sure they were still there.

Eventually they all slept. His eyes closed last.


	25. Chapter 25

**chapter 25**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: as you have already pretty much noted, it's Leah who is going to have the most issues with this. Poor conflicted Leah. Still not happy with her wolf.]**

* * *

Leah woke as Paul tried to creep away. She hissed at him, "Get back to bed."

"You don't want me here," he argued.

She rolled her eyes. They could speak and hear at a volume that wouldn't wake Bella. "Doesn't matter. If she wakes up and you aren't here, I'll be the one in trouble."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't give a fuck. Get back into bed."

"Well, when you ask so nicely-"

"And don't give me any crap," she interrupted.

"Uh, huh."

He stood, looking at the bed and then deliberately walked around to Leah's side.

"Fucking asshole," she swore at him.

He smiled at her. He didn't move.

"Fine," she huffed. She shuffled back up against Bella pushing her over and leaving a space for him. Bella made some small sleepy noise of complaint. Leah folded her arms across her chest. She didn't want to show him her back and she wasn't sure why. Maybe she didn't want him behind her. He was usually behind her when they had sex.

She reached down and grabbed the top sheet, covering her body as she lay down again. She tucked it up under her armpits.

"Seen it," he snickered.

"Don't care."

He lay on his side facing her. He was right on the edge of the mattress.

They stared at each other. She deliberately didn't look lower. He wasn't under the sheet.

"You argued over me. Sorry," he said.

"Yeah, right."

"I - I didn't know where else to go."

She frowned at him. He could have mourned on his own, but she felt bad for even thinking like that. He had been so distraught the night before.

"How's your dad?"

"I dunno. Didn't wait to find out."

"You should call him today."

"Yeah. I will." He looked sad again.

She sighed.

He reached a hand out and brushed a finger down her arm where it lay outside of the covers.

She ignored him. "Is she right?" Leah asked him.

"Who?"

He got a look for that.

"Bella. Is she right?" she asked.

He just looked at her and didn't answer her.

"You heard; don't pretend you didn't. She had a theory."

He took a breath. "She's still here. You're still here."

Leah had threatened that they were done if Bella let him in. So he had heard them talking. "Yeah," she grunted it.

"And I'm here," he added.

"I know." Her eyes narrowed at him.

"And you're _here_." He managed to make the second 'here' sound different. It somehow implied that she was with him.

She frowned at him again. "Here?"

"With me."

"I'm not with you. I'm with her."

"Both," he argued.

"Pfft."

He shuffled a tiny bit closer to her. "Leah?"

She stared at a point on his chest. She wanted to close her eyes.

"What do you want?" she whined.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No."

"Bella gets it."

"So she is right?"

"Would it be so bad?"

"Answer the question."

"You."

"What?"

"The second I phased, my wolf ran to you. He wants you. That's why I'm here. With you." He shuffled the last bit closer. Their bodies touched now, with the sheet the thinnest armor between them.

"What about Bella?"

"I want her, too."

"You can't want both."

"I think I can. Wolf and man. Isn't that what you want?"

"I-I don't think so."

"I disagree. Your wolf wants me, Leah and you want Bella."

She was silent.

"It was so obvious that Sam pointed it out to me. He saw me talking to Bella. He said that I had promised a girl I cared about, to stay away from another girl I cared about in a different way."

"I don't like you wanting her," she grizzled. "And I don't like you wanting me."

"Liar."

"Pfft."

"You know we are like lie detectors, Leah. You can't lie to me even if you can lie to yourself."

"I don't want you," she argued desperately.

"Lying," he whispered. His face was so close to hers now.

"I don't," she insisted.

"Lying." He leaned in.

She tried to put her hand on his chest to hold him away from her. But touching him was a mistake. She made a tiny groan. He pushed his face under hers and brushed her lips. She inhaled. All she could smell was him; him and Bella.

He kissed her. It was gentle and sweet. His lips pressed just at the edge of hers. He didn't push it any further. He shifted his head back on the pillow, until he could focus on her and then he watched her.

She wasn't sure what to do. Her head was full of memory flashes of them fucking but, he had just kissed her and then stopped. "I'm sorry about your mom," she blurted out.

He made a shrug movement. "Crack whore."

"Yeah, but still… she was your mother."

"Was." He blinked quickly.

She didn't want him to cry again. She touched his cheek carefully.

"I'm okay," he preempted.

"I know."

"Now, that I'm here with you two," he added.

She stared at him.

He kissed her again; just a brush of their lips. He always felt the right temperature to her. The same as her.

"I don't want to fuck," she said quickly.

"Me either. That would ruin it."

"Pfft. You turn down fucks these days?" Phew, she had re-found her snarky side.

"I do. All the time."

She blinked. "Since us?" she guessed

"Yeah. I turned down Gemma."

"That is hardly proof of-"

"And some others."

"And then you left. They missed you and bitched about that."

"Who did?"

"I don't know their names. Heard them complaining at the gas station."

He chuckled. He shifted his body against hers. Pushing her back a little.

She could feel him. It was almost worse to feel him through the sheet. "They said it was my fault."

"It was Bella's," he pointed out.

"She did ask you to go, but I am hardly going to tell them that."

"No."

"You are pushing into my…" she stopped. She was going to say nest. But it felt silly to say it to him. "World," she finished.

"That was not what you were going to say."

She squirmed. He was too damn perceptive.

"What were you going to say?" he pressed.

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

She rolled her eyes. "Nest."

"What?"

"I told Mom, you wanted into my nest."

He chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"That is such a cute image."

"Cute?"

"You and Bella. Clucking like little birds… in your nest." He poked her in the stomach with a finger.

"Fuck you."

He grinned at her. "Yeah." Confident Paul was back for a minute.

"We can push you out."

"Sure, you can."

"No, we can. Anytime we want."

"I know." He looked serious. "But I'll fly."

"Fly?"

"Shove me out and I'll fly right back to you both."

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard you say, and you've said some stupid shit before."

"Really? I thought it was kind of romantic."

"I thought it was adorable," piped up Bella.

"Shit. Sorry, did we wake you up?" Leah asked.

"I've been half awake for a while. But you got louder ages ago. Probably hearing my name, and being shoved over in my own bed," she added. She rolled over and slid up the bed to above Leah's head so that she could see them both.

Paul smiled at her. "Morning."

She reached past Leah to brush his hair with her hand. "How are you?" She looked concerned.

"I'm okay."

Her breasts pressed against Leah's back. She ruffled Leah's hair too. "And you?"

"Upset. There's a fucking cuckoo in my nest."

"Cock-who?" he asked.

Bella laughed.

"Don't encourage him," Leah whined.

"Leah. He's here now and from the way he is talking, he intends to stay."

"It's not up to him," Leah said. "We all have to want this."

"I think I want it," said Bella quietly. Leah's heart fell.

"Me, too," said Paul.

He glanced at Bella. "Leah wants it, too. She was kissing me."

"Oh, jeez. Do you have to tell her that?"

"I told you, you were lying to yourself, don't lie to her, too."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Too close to reminding Bella that Leah had lied to her before.

"Stop it, both of you," Bella insisted. "Now I approve of you two kissing, anyway."

"So, how do I prove my epic awesomeness to you?" Paul asked. "Go on a quest? Kill something for you?"

"I can kill my own damn stuff, thank you very much," Leah grumbled.

"Give up something for you?" Bella suggested.

"I've done that," he said with a double eyebrow lift.

"Giving up fucking skanks is not much of a sacrifice," Leah argued.

"Oh, you have?" Bella asked.

"Yep. For you two."

"Thank you." She leaned forward for a kiss.

"Don't reward him! As if that was a sacrifice," Leah complained. "He wasn't even here."

"It was something. And you hated it. So it was the right thing to do." Bella leaned past Leah to kiss him.

He kissed her back, but put his hands on Leah to do it.

She sighed again, squished between them.

"Hated them, huh?" he teased Leah.

"He's staying," Bella insisted.

Paul winked at Leah and she growled at him.

"That's a point. No more skanks. No cheating," Leah insisted.

"Okay." He grinned. "Same rules for you two."

There was a short silence.

"So I can stay?" he asked, quietly.

"I thought you said you weren't moving in."

"I did and I'm not. I'll keep living at my place. Doubt the rez could cope with that. Seriously," he said, "I'll take whatever you want to give me." He sounded very serious.

"That doesn't sound like much of a deal," Bella said.

"Honestly, Bella. I've never dated anyone… ever. I am not going to leap into living together. I think that would be too much for us all. And Leah has some issues about it."

She growled at him again.

"That's pretty clear," he added.

"Seth told me that you'd never had a real girlfriend," Bella said.

"Cheeky pup," Paul said.

"Thank you for being honest," Bella said. "I worry about it, too. I worry that you are both wolves and I will be pushed out. That I won't be enough for you."

"No," protested Leah. "I don't want to lose you." She twisted around to try and see Bella's face. Their hands reached for her and pulled her over to them. They all shifted on the bed so that Bella lay between Leah and Paul.

"I had a nightmare," Bella whispered.

"The other night when you woke up crying?" Leah asked. She peered worriedly into Bella's face.

Bella nodded. "I thought I had lost you."

"Oh, Baby," Leah crooned. "Why didn't you tell me?" she hugged Bella.

"I didn't want to worry you. It was just a stupid nightmare."

They both hugged her. Paul plastered her back up against his chest. His arm around her waist, holding her snuggly.

"I'm glad you came back, Paul. I am sorry about your mother, but I missed you when you went away." Her fingers played with the veins on his arm. She remembered doing that before, the first time they had sex.

He kissed her hair. "Thanks, Munchkin."

"I want to try it, Leah," Bella appealed to her. "If it doesn't work out,… well, we can deal with that, if it happens."

"But you were so upset when Paul and I fucked."

"I was upset that you didn't keep your word. I told you that at the time. Paul asked me what I wanted, when we spoke at the building site. And I think that I want to try having you both in my life. If that's okay with you two. And because we are being honest, I think you should know that we know you initially played us, Paul. We worked it out."

She could feel his body stiffen behind her. Leah looked at him.

"But," Bella continued, "we also thought that was how it started, not how it finished."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, you're right," he confessed.

"When you went away, you showed us that you were trying the hardest," Bella said. "It's just ... circumstances… that have made you come back now."

He kissed her shoulder, and then rested his forehead on it. He looked as if he was trying to hide behind her body.

"Paul," Leah said, softly.

"Yes," he muttered.

"You need to call your father."

"I know. He had to drive to Tacoma."

Bella understood. "There will have to be a funeral."

He shook his head behind Bella's back. "I-I c-can't."

"We will go with you," she said.

"Of course we will," agreed Leah.


	26. Chapter 26

**chapter 26**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

[AN: remember children, safe sex always.]

* * *

Leah lay there and looked at them. Bella still running her fingers over Paul's arm and Paul pressing his face in against the back of Bella's hair and neck. He nuzzled at her. Kissing softly at her neck. His arm shifted and his thumb started to brush across her stomach. She looked down at his hand where it was gently rubbing across her flesh.

They looked like they were going to have sex.

Leah wasn't sure that she could watch it. She knew it was her issue, but she was still uncertain about this whole thing. They had let him in and now he was staying. She wasn't entirely happy about it. But he was mourning and he was hurt and she wasn't that much of a bitch. Paul probably needed comfort right now. Comfort she couldn't give him. She and Paul had been together a couple of times, just before he left, so it was kind of Bella's turn, if they were taking turns. Leah could fuck him, but it would be rough and aggressive and she'd probably fight him for it. Right now, he needed soft and cuddly. She was a lot of things, but she was not cuddly. Or soft.

This was Bella's domain.

Leah spoke, "I am going to go and tell Sam we found you. And that you're okay."

Paul's dark eyes looked up at her over Bella's shoulder.

"Phone your dad after… you know," she added, with a hand wave at the two of them.

"He would have phoned Billy, too," Paul said.

"Okay. I'll talk to Billy as well."

"You don't want to stay?" Paul asked.

"No."

"Are you okay, Leah?" Bella asked her.

"Yeah." She sighed. "Look, it's your turn."

"My turn?" Bella checked.

"You running away again?" Paul asked.

"No," Leah denied. She had run away when they had first been together. Trust him to remember that. "You guys haven't been together for ages. Not since the three of us were. So I should just go and leave you to it."

"But," Bella started to say.

Paul's arm tightened around Bella as if he was going to stop her leaving the bed. "Please stay," he whispered to her.

"You're sure?" Bella asked Leah.

She nodded and then she leaned down and kissed Bella.

Paul shifted behind her; sitting up on one elbow and leaning forwards, too. "Fine," Leah huffed. He got a kiss as well. They both watched Leah get dressed. She kept glancing at them, but they weren't doing anything. She closed the door carefully behind her and left them to it. She sat on the front porch and put her runners on. She listened to the quiet sounds of the sea for a little while before she got to her feet and started walking.

She wanted to walk to the houses, it would give them more time together. She chose the Black's first, they were closer.

He'd demanded a kiss good bye? Cheeky bastard. And they had agreed to go to the funeral with him. Shit. She hated funerals.

It was still early, but Billy was up eating his breakfast.

"Morning. Paul is at our place. He's okay."

"Good. His father was worried."

"I'll make sure he calls him later. There will have to be a funeral, I suppose?"

"Yes."

"**Is** he okay?" Billy asked.

"He's getting there. I think it's the guilt." Billy needed to know what he had told them last night. "He called the cops on his mother. He still seems pretty upset about that. Never got to apologize."

Billy nodded. His face thoughtful. "I don't think Niki knows that."

"He wouldn't have told anyone … if he blamed himself."

"He didn't hurt you?"

Leah shook her head. He might have done some damage, but not in the sense that Billy meant.

"Good."

"We offered to go with him to Tacoma. We haven't sorted it out yet."

"Has he called Niki, yet?"

"No. He's…asleep," she substituted.

"Right," said Billy. "Did you want me to talk to Sam?"

"No, I can do it."

"Right," Billy repeated. He sounded doubtful.

She resisted the urge to argue with him. She could talk to Sam. "Jake's not here?" She knew he wasn't; couldn't hear him, but she needed to change the subject.

"Lily's."

She whistled. "He staying overnight now?"

"Yes," said Billy with a rascally look. No secrets from the pack anyway.

"So it is serious?"

"She is not his imprint."

"No." Stupid imprinting. "I should talk to Sam."

"Okay, Leah. I am glad he didn't hurt himself."

"Yes."

She thought about that as she walked to Sam's. Paul had told her that he had hurt himself after the tree sex. What had he said? 'I knew I had done the wrong thing, that first night, the second you ran away. Head butted the damn tree.'

Maybe Billy was right. The person he was most likely to hurt was himself. Especially if he thought that he had fucked up. A small thought crossed her mind. Had going away and leaving them hurt him?

She shook herself. She couldn't think like that. He already got under her skin and she still wasn't completely sure about this threesome thing. Was that what she even called it? Ugh.

Sam was up; she could hear him. She knocked on the door.

"Morning," said Sam.

"Sam." A nod. "He's okay. I just told Billy."

"No damage?"

"Nope."

He looked at her carefully.

She saw him give her a body scan for bruises. She rolled her eyes. "He just… I dunno… wanted a hug."

"Sure, sure," said Sam.

"You didn't know about his mother?"

"Nope. Niki doesn't talk about it."

"No, Mom doesn't either. I told Billy that Bella and I might go to the funeral with him."

"Jake and I can sort out the pack issues."

"Yeah. Thanks. I'll call you."

He gave her a look. "Could have called this morning."

She shrugged. "Just needed to get out of the house."

He didn't say anything. He knew. "Did you want to come in?"

She shook her head. "Later."

"Okay."

As she walked back home, her pace slowed. She ambled along now.

How long did they need? It felt stupid. She had had sex with them both at the same time, but she just wanted to hide this morning. Too raw. Too bruised.

She had heard someone in the shower at Sam's. It must have been Emily. She was glad that she had missed her. Phew. They were still wary of each other. She had talked to Sam about her and the baby but she was still finding it hard to forgive them.

She snorted. Paul had called Emily Sam's domestic goddess. He was right about that, too. Sam loved that stuff. No doubt Bella was cooking breakfast for Paul by now and looking after him as well.

She should go see. Maybe there would be breakfast for her, too?

* * *

Paul lifted his hips, holding Bella against the front of his body. He lifted her across the mattress, closer to the center of the bed. She clutched at the arm around her waist. When he settled again, one of his hands strayed up to her breast, the other down to between her legs. He hugged her, holding her firmly in both places. She could feel his chest inflate as he took a really deep breath and then let it out.

She just waited. She couldn't help but feel a growing anticipation. He was holding her. His body so warm and hard behind her. His finger gently stroked her breast; rubbing her nipple between finger and thumb. He was breathing quietly. She lifted her hand and ran her palm down his arm until her hand was over the one resting between her legs. She lifted her thigh up infinitesimally; just enough to open her labia. She pushed down on the back of his hand.

The tiny kisses started down her neck. He blew a breath out into her hair. She shivered. Her breast goose-bumped, the nipple tensed and he held it more firmly. He nibbled at her neck. She pressed at his hand again. He smiled. She could feel it against her neck.

"You in a hurry?" he asked.

She wanted to squirm but could barely move. "What did you want?" she asked him.

"Slow." He even said it slowly. Drew it out. It sounded sinful.

She sighed. She wanted to ask him a dozen questions. Did he really want to be with her? Was he okay about Leah leaving? She was still formulating the rest of her questions when he whispered to her, "I missed you."

Her heart just tumbled over itself. "Really?" she whispered back.

He hugged her harder. The hand on her mound was making her crazy. She clenched her butt cheeks and that shifted her hips. He finally took the hint. The resting hand slipped easily inside her lower lips. She sighed.

Now he was finally there, she felt brave enough to lift her foot. She lifted it until the sole of her foot was flat on the bed. Pulling it up towards her and lifting her knee; opening herself out to him. She bent her arm back and reached behind her. She slid her palm down his body, over his hip and down to his thigh. She could feel the fine hairs on the surface and the hard muscle underneath. So different to Leah.

He slid his whole hand down between her legs and back up again. His middle finger dragged up over her clitoris. She squirmed. He did it again. The slow, languorous pace was torture for her. He just wouldn't be hurried. His other hand rubbed all over her body, stroking, tweaking and occasionally returning to her breasts to fondle and pinch.

When she squirmed too much for him, he lifted his own leg over the top of hers; holding it down with the weight of his and slid his foot under her calf. He pinned her easily. His mouth returned to her neck.

The maddening slow stroke continued. She was aching now. She pressed back hard into his body.

She groaned at the feel of his cock; hot and hard where it lay against her back.

She begged. His teeth scraped the skin of her neck. She moaned loudly. Teeth. Animals. Biting. She trembled at the thought.

Her body stiffened. She panted. The inexorable build-up climbed. He knew her; he knew when she was ready to pop. He sank two fingers inside her, pulled his hand up so that it pressed on her clitoris, he pinched her nipple hard and he bit her gently on the back of the neck. The combination was too much for her.

She fell apart. She grabbed at him with her hands. She curled her toes for him and cried out.

He resumed stroking her slowly until she stopped trembling and then he just held her firmly for almost a minute as she panted and her breathing slowed. She felt like putty.

He shifted her with him, back closer to the side table. He reached his arm back and tugged open the top drawer. The same drawer that Bella had hidden the vibrator in. He couldn't see so he finally let her go so that he could sit up. She slid over a little and watched him as he reached into the drawer.

"Condoms," he explained.

"I'd forgotten." That was the truth. She would have let him do anything. Thank goodness he hadn't forgotten she was not using birth control. "Have to fix that," she said.

"Yes," he agreed, with a grin. He produced the vibrator with a flourish and a raised eye brow.

"I bought that," she explained.

"Did you?" he sounded intrigued. He sniffed at it. "It only smells like Leah."

"It's new. We just used it last night."

"Right." He looked at her. Poked his tongue out and licked up it. "Mmmm," he said.

Wolves. They weren't like other people. She shook her head. She reached out and slid her palm up the underside of his rigid length where it lay up against his stomach.

He hissed. "Watch it. I'll blow."

"Let me," she offered. She held her hand out.

He passed her a condom wrapper and dropped the purple sex toy back in the drawer.

She liked handling him. She wasn't up to putting his cock in her mouth yet, but the thought crossed her mind. Now, she enjoyed sliding the condom down over him and getting her hands all over it. And he knew it. He watched her; an amused smile on his face.

She tried to kiss it off his face.

When he was fully encased, he pushed her gently onto her back and clambered over her. He still had the smile. He balanced on one hand, holding himself in the other. He held his penis firmly and stroked the blunt head along her channel.

She moaned. She opened her legs wide. Welcoming him. He worked his way into her. Making small pushing movements until she opened to him and he could sink all the way in. He made a noise as he did it. She looked up at his face.

A look passed across it. He wasn't smiling now.

"Shhh," she comforted him. "Let me look after you." She wanted to wrap herself around him. Shield him. Take him into her body and look after him. "I've got you," she told him.

He pursed his lips and blinked quickly. He lowered his body over hers and hid his face. She wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt so small under him.

His hips lifted and he started to move above her.

She held him. She tried and failed to keep him in place. He was too strong for her. Slow. Deep. Endless thrusts. He plowed into her.

She had a vague idea that he must want this; he controlled the pace. She just hung on for the ride.

She orgasmed again; panting and feeling her internal muscles clutch at him as he dragged his long hard length out of her and then inexorably returned. He hadn't even touched her clitoris; it was just him inside her, filling her again and again.

When he climaxed, his tears felt hot on her shoulder.


	27. Chapter 27

**chapter 27**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

When Leah got back to their house, they thankfully, had well and truly finished in bed. She had gone the extra long, dawdling route home. And had listened carefully before she got close to the house. As she approached it, she could smell the bacon from a distance anyway, so she knew Bella was cooking.

She stood in the yard, where she could watch them through the kitchen window. Paul was sitting at the table, bare chested. Now she remembered that he had no clothes. He had arrived in wolf form. Leah wondered if he was naked. Probably not. His hair was wet. Shower. He must have had a shower. He looked better.

Bella was fussing. She kept touching him; she brushed his hair, she smiled at him, she chattered away and piled food on his plate from the frying pan. She waved the spatula around as she talked to him.

Leah noticed that his eyes kept following her. She walked away to get something and Leah knew where she was in the room from where Paul was looking.

She stood next to him and refilled his coffee mug and he pressed his lips against her side. She looked down at him and kissed the top of his head. He pulled her onto his lap. She said something and held up the coffee pot. Paul took it out of her hand and put it down on the table. He kissed her again and both her arms went around his neck.

Fuck's sake. Where they going to have sex in the kitchen? Leah stared at the ground. When she looked up again, Bella was snuggling. She cuddled in against him and he started to feed her from his plate. His arm wrapped around her. He kissed her hair. He had told Leah that his wolf had run to her, but it didn't look like it now. Paul and Bella. She was willing to bet that their sex had been soft and comforting; she and Paul fucked. Hard. Bella made love.

Leah took a deep breath and ran across the yard.

They both looked up at her when she entered the back door. They looked really cosy together. Bella looked freshly fucked; swollen lips and tousled hair. Leah sniffed. And she was un-showered. All Paul was wearing was a towel wrapped around his hips. Clearly Bella had cooked while Paul showered.

Leah stood there awkwardly in her own home. "Spoke to Billy and Sam. Sam said he would work out patrols… if we go away for a few days."

Bella climbed off Paul's lap and fetched a plate for Leah. It was warming in the oven. Paul held out a piece of bacon to her with a raised eyebrow but she shook her head. "I didn't think to borrow any clothes for you. Sorry."

"It's okay."

"Seth could bring some over," Bella suggested.

Leah nodded.

"Sit, Leah. Eat," Bella commanded, as she placed the full plate on the table.

Paul was watching Leah.

Bella sat on her own chair now and Leah felt partly relieved she wasn't sitting on Paul's lap, partly guilty she felt like that and partly annoyed that she didn't sit on her lap. Fuck! She was a mess. "What did Niki say?"

"He's still walking out to where we left the truck. I think he's pretty pissed with me for running off. Either the phone cut out or he hung up, but either way, it's Tacoma."

Leah nodded.

"If we get on the road we can work it out later," Paul suggested. "Where to meet and so on."

"And where to stay," said Bella. "Oh, I have to call Newtons and ask for someone to take my shifts. The number is in my cell." She stood and walked off to find it.

Paul studied Leah. "You okay?"

"Yes."

"Emily there?"

"Shower."

"Good."

"Stop it."

"Why?"

"Annoying."

"You want to sit on my lap?" he asked.

She poked out her tongue at him. "I'm eating."

"Later, then."

She ignored him.

"Leah?"

She looked up at him.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For making me stay. I know you wanted to throw me out."

She jigged her head towards the bedroom where Bella was talking on the phone. "She wanted you to stay." They'd had this conversation before. Were they going to keep having this conversation?

"Yeah." He stood and grabbed a mug for her from the dish drainer. Filled it with coffee and placed it near her plate. A peace offering. He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

It made her take a breath. She clung to her knife and fork. "She looked after you." Her voice was quiet.

It wasn't a question but he answered it as if it was. "Yeah. She's good at that."

They ate their breakfast in silence.

"Right," said Bella, as she came back into the room, "my shifts are covered and I called Seth and he will pop over with some clothes for Paul." She glanced between her lovers. "You two good? Got enough food?"

They assured her that they did.

"I will have a shower."

She left again.

"She's nervous," said Paul.

Leah nodded. "Your truck running?"

"Should be."

"We'll have to take that. Bella's won't make the distance."

"No and we don't want to have to call her friendly neighborhood mechanic."

"Jake? No."

"And I can grab some clothes and pack a bag from my place. Get some stuff for Dad, too."

Leah nodded.

Saved by a knock at the door.

"Come in Seth," Paul called out.

Leah frowned at him.

"Yeah, sorry, not my house."

Seth came in anyway. He did not look happy. He threw a pair of athletic shorts into Paul's bare chest.

"Thanks, Seth." He stood and stepped into them, pulling them up under the towel, then removing it and tossing it on the back of the chair.

Leah rolled her eyes. He couldn't get changed in another room?

"Is he back?" Seth asked her, ignoring Paul.

"Hey? Standing right here."

"Yeah." Seth growled at him. "Pants-less."

"Watch it, pup," Paul growled back.

Seth looked as ferocious as Leah had ever seen him. "Hey?" She whistled when they ignored her. "Stop it! Both of you." She pointed at Paul. "You! Go into the bedroom."

He looked as if he was going to argue with her.

"Just go," she said. "Let me talk to my brother."

Paul's jaw flexed. His teeth gritted hard together. He took a breath and he went. He didn't look at Seth again.

Seth bristled as if he had won the fight.

Leah smacked him in the arm. "Outside," she ordered.

"No."

"No?" She paused. She wasn't sure she could make him go. "It's not what you think."

"You don't know what I think and…" He sniffed. "… it smells like what I think."

Leah sighed. "Please, Seth." Her voice dropped to a tiny whisper. "You can't have been phased last night, but his mom died."

Seth blinked.

Leah continued, "He just freaked out, phased and ran."

"To here?"

"Yeah."

Seth gave her a balancing look. "If he hurts you, I'll hurt him."

She had never thought of her little brother as her protector. She was so used to trying to protect him herself. She supposed that compared to the pack he was small, but not to the outside world. He did look a lot like Jake these days.

"I'm okay, Seth. He just had nowhere else to go. He won't hurt me."

"He already has. If that was Bella." He left, as abruptly as he had arrived.

She sighed. The sex. He could smell it. If it wasn't her, it logically had to be Bella.

She walked into the bedroom. Paul was behind her. He shut the door and leaned against it.

"You heard?" she asked.

"Yeah."

He reached a hand out for her and she stepped backwards.

"I was just going to…" He looked hurt.

Crap. She was no good at the touchy stuff.

There was a tentative knock at the door. "I just need my clothes," Bella said.

Paul opened the door to let her in.

She looked between the two of them. "Was that Seth?"

"Yeah. You could have told me he was shitty," Leah said.

"He wasn't when I spoke to him." She looked confused.

Paul gave Leah a look. "So it was when he got here."

"He smelt the sex," Leah said.

"Fucking pack." He looked at Leah with something on his face she couldn't get. Then he turned away from her and spoke to Bella, "I need to go to my place, pack for me and Dad, and I'll drive back to pick you up. We should get going as soon as possible."

"Okay."

"I want to get out of Seth's clothes as soon as I can, as well."

Paul left. He managed to leave an angry current in the air as he did it. Leah sat on the bed.

Bella got dressed. She was putting her boots on before she spoke, "What happened?"

"Seth told me that he'd hurt Paul if he hurt me."

"And Paul heard that?"

A nod.

Bella sighed. "I see." She stamped her boot on the floor, before she did up the laces. "You said you were okay with the sex."

"I thought I was."

"He needed it."

Leah wanted to make some snarky comment but she held her mouth tightly closed.

Bella knew her well. "Not like that… he," she paused. "He cried. At the end."

"Shit. And I wouldn't even give him a hug."

Bella snorted. "We said we would go with him, but if you can't do it, you should stay at home. Do not bring this shit with you."

Leah was shocked. Bella swore?

"None of us need it right now," Bella added, "None of us." She stood now.

"I'll come."

"If you can't be sympathetic, fine, but lay off the antagonism."

"You're fierce."

"If it was you; I'd do it for you."

"It was." Her father had died when she had phased.

"I didn't know you then, but honestly, given that … I would have thought that you'd have more sympathy for him, not less."

Leah's head dropped. Fuck! She'd been well and truly told off.

Silence.

Bella grabbed a backpack and started rifling through the drawers. "I suppose we will need one nice outfit. If there is a funeral."

Leah noticed that she packed the box of condoms. "The black jersey," Leah suggested. "Won't crush either."

"Am I packing for you?" Bella asked.

"I'll do my own."

"Good. I will make some sandwiches for the truck." She reached out and brushed her hand through Leah's hair.

Leah's arms reached up and around her hips. She pulled her close and hugged her hard. "He confuses me," she whispered.

"I know." Bella hugged her back. "Let's just get him through this. He needs us, now. And we can talk later. Will you be okay in the truck with him?"

"Shit. That's a point."

"Don't be weird, just be you."

"I'm not sure I know who I am anymore."

Bella looked worried, but didn't ask.

* * *

When Leah finally got outside, Paul was there with the truck. He was shifting some stuff in the tray and had a tarp cover that fitted over the back of the pickup.

"The bags will have to go in here," he said.

Leah approached him carefully. "Can we talk?"

He turned his head but then when he saw how serious she was, he left the tarp and faced her. She had his full attention.

"I'm sorry."

He nodded, but was silent.

"I don't do soft."

"You could."

"No."

"Okay." He looked at her carefully. "You sure?"

Was she sure? "Yeah," she replied. If she kept it angry, she could keep him from getting too close. It sounded like a plan.

"And that's the only way I get you?" he checked.

She nodded.

"All right, then." He turned back to the truck tarp. "Give me a couple of days. But, you'd better think about that safe word. Let me know what it is."

They had discussed safe words when she was pegging him. Christ, he really was not going to be soft.

She left her bag and went to help Bella with the cooler.


	28. Chapter 28

**chapter 28**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Niki was a little further ahead of the trio and slightly closer to Tacoma, as well. Lucky. He didn't take time for showers or sex, he just got on the road. His head was full of the past and a shit load of regret. The what if's? All the endless replaying of scenarios. The I should have said something, done something, stopped her, or taken her away. He played over every turning point in their lives and it didn't help.

She was dead. His wife was dead.

He didn't need to check directions, he knew exactly where the police department was. It hadn't moved in years.

He stood there in the deliberately non-religious viewing room and he looked down at her body. It was ravaged. She was barely recognizable to him. The drugs had changed her face; coarsened her features but made the rest of her seem smaller, shrunk in on herself.

Paperwork. Mounds of it. Cause of death was heart failure, as if we didn't all die the same way. Detective Russell turned out be a blond, blue-eyed man who looked like he had played football in high school. He was reading her file. "I remember you, now," he said. "Just needed to see the file to bring it back." He turned over a few more pages.

Niki just sat. The detective wasn't familiar to him, but then that time had been a blurry nightmare.

"That's right… always wondered what happened to that kid."

"My son?" He didn't say 'our son'. She had lost him a long time ago.

"No. I meant, the child that made the call to 911." He looked at Niki as if he was trying to give him a clue.

Niki nodded. "Male or female?"

"Male."

"It probably was my son." Shit. He hadn't known that.

Det. Russell just nodded. "How is he?"

"He's almost eighteen now."

"You did a good job."

Niki shrugged. "I don't know yet."

"Child Protection thought so."

Shit. He might have lost Paul. All those years ago.

"He seemed in good hands with you," Det. Russell added.

"Thank you."

"I didn't make the decision."

"Maybe not, but thank you anyway. He might want to see… her. I don't know yet. He's making his own way here."

"Okay. Let me know."

"Is there a funeral place nearby?"

"There's a Neptune Society just across the street. They only do cremations." He looked over to a colleague. "Hey, Ted? You got the card for that Neptune place?"

Ted rifled around in his desk caddy and then handed him a card.

Cremation. That would work. "Can I keep this?" Niki asked.

"Sure, bud."

"Hotels?"

"There's a Best Western a block over but it's gone down hill lately. Try further over near the docks on East 27th Street. The La something Spanish."

"Thanks again."

"You look after that boy."

"These days, he almost looks after me."

"Oh, here, give me that card back." He scribbled a phone number on the back. "Call the Morgue on this number if he does want to see her."

"Great. Thanks again."

He made his way out of the building. He was in a daze. He wandered until he found a Starbucks and then he sat and nursed a coffee.

His son. He had almost lost his son. Sometimes he thought that Paul was the only thing that kept him going. He had to eat, and Niki had to work to feed him. Those simple facts were what had kept him putting one foot in front of the other.

He sat, staring out the window at the people who walked past. Alive and active. Normal people.

* * *

Leah was itching. Four hours. She would never make four hours. Bella was in the middle of the bench seat so she didn't have to touch Paul.

"Can I drive?" she asked suddenly.

"You wanna drive?" Paul checked.

"Yeah. You must be tired."

"I am, actually."

"So, the next place you can pull over."

"Right."

They did that and walked past each other around the truck. Bella watched the two of them doubtfully.

Paul hunkered down and folded his arms. If there was one thing, the pack learned, it was to be able to go to sleep anywhere. He was sound asleep in minutes.

Bella's head started to nod, too. She leaned forward, her head down and rocking a little. Leah pushed her carefully towards Paul. She fell onto him, waking him up. He unfolded his arm, put it around her and cuddled her in against him. He watched Leah with his eyes half closed.

He was thinking. He was good with them both; he liked it. He could feel Bella leaning against him. Breathing quietly. He could scent both her and Leah in the cab. He could even smell him on Bella from the sex.

His inner wolf whined. You'll get something, he promised. Even if it was just to sleep with her; just sleep. Curled up together.

Leah seemed brittle to him. She worried him. He almost regretted going back to La Push. Not that he had much control over it at the time.

Bella sighed in her sleep, and he was suddenly glad that he was there.

"Sock," she muttered.

Paul snorted. "Sock?"

"She talks in her sleep," Leah said.

"Fascinating."

"Usually it is just random things. Sometimes you can tell what she is worried about."

"She forgot to pack socks?"

Leah chuckled. "Maybe."

"What else does she say?" He was chatting with Leah. He didn't want to point it out to her in case she stopped.

"Oh, let me think… 'black wolf'. I suppose that was a memory of Sam finding her that time."

"I was there."

"Yes. She also said 'too green' one night."

"Ah. The desert girl. Where was it?"

"Arizona. Her mom moved to Florida now. Phil plays ball for the Suns."

"Phil?"

"Her step dad."

"Right."

They talked about Bella for a little while until Paul fell asleep again.

They both slept until Leah reached the outskirts of Tacoma. "Paul?"

His eyes flew open.

"Call Niki. Find out where we go."

He did that and got instructions to a Starbucks.

* * *

Niki saw them coming. He had contacted the Neptune Society and got a quote and tentatively booked a small ceremony for the next day. He would confirm in the morning that the police would release the body. He had explained that it would just be two or so guests, no need to cater or book a function room. It would have to do. He didn't want to spend any more time in town than he had to. Even then, he'd have to choose an urn and wait another day before he could take the ashes with him.

He and Paul embraced. Bella dragged Leah off to the counter, to give the father and son some privacy.

"I'm sorry I ran out," Paul whispered to his father.

"It's okay. I think I understand why. We can talk later if you want."

"Okay." His face looked oddly childlike for a second. Then he glanced up towards the two girls at the counter.

"You brought two girls to a funeral?" Niki asked.

"No." Paul gave a short, barking laugh. "They brought me. Wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Thanks for your support." He was sarcastic.

"Fuck, Dad. Don't get shitty with me."

A sigh. "Sorry. It's been a shitty kind of day."

"I get that. I'm sorry, too." He looked worried. "You okay?"

"History. You know?"

"Yeah. I know."

"Did you want to do a viewing?"

"Shit. Do I have to?" He sat down suddenly.

"Only if you want." Niki resumed his seat.

Paul looked stricken. Bella was walking back and sat down next to him and held his hand.

"Do I want to see her?" Paul asked Bella.

"Would it help?"

"I dunno."

"We could try, and if it doesn't work out, we can leave."

"Okay."

She glanced at Niki. "I am sure if it just family only, then your father would go with you."

"I can call and ask." Niki stood and walked outside.

Paul was silent. Leah came back with the drinks and some muffins.

Niki returned. "He said close relatives only."

"We'll wait here for you," Bella said. She kissed Paul and hugged him hard. He pressed her in against him. Leah patted him on the shoulder but avoided a hug.

Father and son went together.

"I can't imagine it," Bella said.

"Which?"

"Either. The death of a parent or having to go to the Morgue to identify someone."

"I think she has been identified, but yeah…"

"I think if I ever had kids, it would be my greatest nightmare for them to die before me."

"Well, at least Shania got that in the right order. Come on," Leah cajoled, "eat your muffin."

Bella read a book and Leah flicked through some magazines. She got up and told Bella that she was going to walk up and down the street. She just had to move.

She saw them walking back. They were arguing.

"Cremation is cheaper," Niki growled. He gave Paul a look. "You wanna spend more money on her?"

"No. Fuck! I dunno."

"I am not paying thousands for a funeral."

"Christ, Dad, There isn't anyone who would come?"

"We all thought she was dead years ago, Paul. Her family gave up on her a long time ago."

"But—"

"Can you pay for it?"

"No."

"Right now I want to eat and maybe drink a bit. We need to find a hotel and collect the girls."

Leah jogged over. Paul saw her coming. He looked desperately unhappy.

She hugged him. Niki patted him on the back and then just left them and went inside the coffee shop.

"I don't know what to say," she said.

He hugged her harder and took a deep breath.

"I had Seth and Mom had us," she said. "We got through it. You can do this. Let Niki deal with it."

Niki and Bella asked the staff in the coffee shop and they told them the nearest accommodation was further east near the Tacoma dome, confirming what the cop had said. Leah drove and Bella went with Niki. The La Quinta suites would have to do. It was between the freight yards for the port and the freeway. It was cheap at $75 for a double room and it had a restaurant on site and lots of parking. Niki was tired and wanted some hot water.

The room was clean but nothing special. They looked at the two beds. Paul offered, "I can sleep with Dad."

Niki let out a snort, muttered something and went to have a shower.

Bella looked a question at Leah.

"He thinks it's funny that with two women, neither are his."

"Should we meet him in the restaurant? I'm starving," Leah said.

"Yeah, me too. Dad?" he called through the door. "We'll meet you downstairs."

They ate a big meal, but of course the wolves were still hungry. Niki started drinking spirits solidly.

"We could go grab some fast food," Paul suggested.

Leah agreed and the two of them took off.

Bella studied Niki and then reached across the table to hold his hand. "Are you okay?"

"You ever had a drug addict in your life?"

"No. Although I wouldn't get between Charlie and a carton of vitamin R." His favorite was Ranier beer.

Niki chuckled. "Yeah." He rolled the liquor around in the glass. "They cost you everything."

"Did Paul see her?"

"He insisted, but I'm not sure it helped." He looked at Bella's face. "She didn't look much like how he would have remembered her."

Bella nodded.

"The bad drugs; the cheap ones…they just ravage people. And they will sell anything to get them. Rob their family, take their kid's piggy bank."

"They're addicts."

"Yeah." He took a large gulp of his bourbon. "Are you okay about them?" He jigged his head towards the door.

"They will be a little while," Bella said. "They are probably talking, too."

"Or, not," suggested Niki.

Bella shrugged. "Those two don't talk much."

"All action?"

"I suppose."

There was a small gap filled with the background music of the restaurant.

"How was he? That night."

"Distraught. He just cried. And talked. You probably need to talk, too."

"I'm not good at talking."

"Mr—"

"Call me Niki."

"Okay. Niki, tell me about little Paul." Bella was hoping that any talk would lead to some kind of outlet for Niki.

"He was a terror. He was smart, but not academic. Never any good in school. He'd act out, hit other kids, and just be trouble, discipline wise."

"I can imagine."

"He knew the rules, though and he knew the class timetable off by heart, before most other kids even knew one existed. He'd be naughty just before an activity that he didn't like."

"And not be in the classroom for it?"

"Yes. And he'd get detention for hitting another child. Hit teachers when that no longer worked." Niki sighed. "I tried; I really tried but someone had to work. I'll never forget that day. There was a bomb threat or something and we all got sent home early. She wasn't there. Paul wasn't there. I didn't even know where to start looking for them and she wasn't answering her phone. Turned out she had been taking him with her to score."

"Oh, no."

"He had never said anything to me. She didn't know how to handle him. She tried, but Paul was a handful and they just fed off each other. He'd get worse when she was bad and then she'd use more, or the other way around. He was like her litmus paper."

"Did you try medication?"

"For him? No. Nobody really knew what his issue was. They used a lot of labels, but they didn't help. And each time I got him re-tested, they'd use the same test."

"The smart kid knew it."

"Yep. And the diagnoses would get progressively worse. Not that I thought any of them were right. Some of them got pieces of the puzzle, but I had already decided we had to leave. Go home. Back to some fresh air and a cleaner life. A small community where everyone could keep an eye on him. But…"

"Not her thing?"

"No. We argued about it. She'd have to clean up on the rez; Billy didn't tolerate drugs. She made wild threats. We had the biggest fight we had ever had. Someone called the cops. She had been using; she was off her head and she still had the stuff on her. Third strike." He gave Bella a calculating look. "The detective today remembered us. He said he did because a kid had made the 911 call. A boy."

Bella's head dropped.

"Bella?" Niki asked. "Did he say anything to you?"

"It was Paul," she whispered.

"I thought it might have been. He never said anything to me; ever."

"It was that, he was really upset about. He was really guilty that he didn't know she had a record."

"I'll talk to him. Tell him the cops mentioned it." He gave a bitter chuckle. "She was better off without us. Bizarre. On her own she qualified for Legal Aid, with us around she didn't. If we had stayed, we would have had to pay for it all." He drained his glass. "I made a choice. I chose my son. I don't think it the wrong choice."

"No, of course not. You should be proud of him."

"I am, but he still has a way to go."

* * *

Paul and Leah had sniffed out a fast food place, bought a dozen burgers and then sat in the hotel car park eating them. Paul inhaled his. He stood, balled up the paper bags and tossed them into the trash. She noticed that he didn't put on a show, didn't crow about the slam dunk or try to make it a competition.

He sighed. "Christ, I feel tired. I haven't felt tired for a year, you know?"

"It's probably all the emotions."

"Fuckin' hate emotions."

"Yeah. Draining."

"You gonna be okay tomorrow?"

"Me? Why?" asked Leah.

"A funeral? You haven't been to one since… your Dad."

"Shit. I forgot about that." She thought about it. "Should be okay. It won't be the same thing. No crowd, for a start."

"Nope. Just us, I think."

"She had no friends?" Leah asked.

"Dad isn't going to invite them if she did." He shrugged. "The cops said no one had been in touch with them. They knew her; and found his details in her file."

"Where was she living?"

"You think she might have left some stuff?"

"We could go look, if you wanted."

"Should ask Dad."

"She might have nothing. Are you prepared for that?"

"Crap. I don't know."

Leah thought he still looked like a lost little boy.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul stood in the parking lot.

"She was a junkie, of course she'd have nothing." Paul shook his head, and then reached a hand down to help Leah up. He pulled her up to her feet. She stood in front of him, their bodies barely touching. He was still holding her hand.

"Sticky," he said.

He pulled it up to his mouth, held it in both hands and licked her palm. His dark eyes studied her.

"Stop it," she whispered. It was too animalistic; too much like grooming. His tongue between her fingers made her think of his tongue elsewhere. She snatched her hand back. "I didn't think you were up to it for a couple of days."

"I'm always up for it."

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on. You were so thinking about it a minute ago."

"I was not," she denied.

"Lying, Leah. We talked about that."

She hated the way he could do that. "You are too close to your wolf."

"Too close? The wolf **is** me. I don't think he's ever led me astray." He watched her again. "That's it," he commented, "you hate your wolf."

She folded her arms.

"Come on, Leah, we were talking… talk to me."

"I wish things were different."

"Different how?"

Silence. She kicked the ground with her toe.

"You wish you had never phased?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Then where would you be?"

She shrugged.

"Still human. Still angry with Sam for leaving you. And you wouldn't know why he had to do it."

She didn't think he had to do it anyway. Emily didn't have to be his lover. "At least I'd have other options."

"You do have other options."

"What? Like you?"

"Ouch."

"Fuck. Sorry."

"No, keep talking. You need to get it all out. And I meant Bella."

"You don't need my shit right now."

"It's distracting. Makes me forget about my shit."

"If I bury you under mine?"

"I can dig. I'm part canine."

She snorted. "You're part annoying."

"Yeah? You want to hit me?" He did a boxers' shuffle step. Putting his fists up. "Come on. I'll have ya."

"Christ! Stop it. You make my head spin."

He laughed. It cut off quickly, but it was a laugh. She was glad to hear it.

"We should get back to Bella and Niki," she reminded him.

"Right. So 'no' to the quick fuck in the parking lot?"

She ignored him and started walking back inside. She headed straight for the restrooms and washed her hands. Because they were sticky; not because Paul had been licking them.

When she got back to the table Niki looked drunk. His face had that shiny look some guys got when they drank too much. Bella looked like she needed rescuing. Paul was slumped in his seat, arms folded and looking sulky.

"We should pay and get to bed. I think we are all tired," Leah suggested.

They agreed. Niki paid for the meal and they made their way to the room. Bella got changed in the bathroom and curled up into a little ball in the girls' bed. Leah had a shower. When she came out Niki was snoring and exhaling bourbon and Paul had the TV on and muted. His legs stretched down the bed.

"Did you ask about her place?" She jigged her head at Niki.

"Yeah. He's not okay about it."

"You still want to go?"

He looked thoughtful. "Yeah."

"We can ask the cops for the address."

"Detective Russell."

She nodded.

"Okay."

Leah climbed in next to Bella but she didn't want to put her back to Paul. She lay on her side and watched him; her eyes almost closed. He glanced at her. She thought that he probably knew that she wasn't asleep.

Once he shut off the television and lay down, his head was hidden by the side table between them.

She closed her eyes. Now, maybe he would go to sleep.

"Leah?" a tiny whisper.

No such luck. "What?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"No. The bed's too small."

"So … if it was a bigger bed?"

"No. Shut up and go to sleep."

"You wanna have sex tomorrow?"

"No."

"It's your turn."

Fuck. Was that how they were going to do this? She hadn't thought about it. "Don't care. You won't be having sex with anyone with **no dick**. Shut up and go to sleep."

He chuckled. "Good night, Leah."

She grunted at him. "And don't try to steal Bella out of the bed. I'll know."

"Okay." He sounded amused.

She finally fell asleep.

* * *

An early morning train in the freight yard woke her. It wasn't dawn yet. She noticed only Niki was in the bed. She peered down and found Paul asleep on the floor between the beds and as close as he could get to them without actually being in the bed with them. He had a pillow under his head and that was all. She looked down at him over the edge of the mattress. He looked peaceful asleep. She reached down and brushed his face and he grabbed her wrist.

She felt literally and figuratively caught. What had possessed her to touch him? Whatever boundaries he had set, she had just crossed.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes.

She tried to pull her arm back but he wasn't letting go.

"Shove over," he said.

"What? No."

He just ignored her and rolled her over as he climbed into the bed. She couldn't fight him without waking everyone. He was still holding her wrist and she ended up with her arm across her body and his body tucked in behind her. He shoved her body over closer to Bella and shifted his head on her pillow until he got comfortable. He let her wrist go and slipped his arm around her waist. He actually spooned her really well because they were both tall. She heard him exhale and she felt him relax.

He had gone straight back to sleep. He wasn't doing anything sexual so she relaxed, too. The bed really was too small for three and it was pretty crowded. Bella shifted in her sleep, too. It felt oddly familiar. She knew he wasn't leaving now and she just tried to sleep. She tried not to think about him.

When her eyes opened again, it was morning and he was gone. She could hear the shower.

"Morning," Bella said and hugged her.

The buffet breakfast was demolished by two wolves.

They talked about what to do that day before the cremation. Bella said she'd wait with Niki. Leah said she'd go with Paul. Niki and Paul were sulking and not speaking to each other. Niki didn't want Paul to go to his mother's last address.

Paul drove back to the police station and asked to speak to Det. Russell. The desk receptionist called out to a passing man. He was actually on his way out to buy a coffee.

"Whoa." He looked up at Paul who towered over him. Leah got an assessing glance as well. "You must be the Lahote kid."

"Yeah. I wondered if you could give me her final address."

"You sure about that?"

"No."

"Fair enough. She was at Rescue Mission, Tacoma. They always contact the Police if there is a death so that they are covered." He reached over and grabbed a brochure from a rack in the foyer and handed it to Paul.

"Thanks."

"Good luck."

"Thank you," Leah offered. She tugged on Paul's arm.

He was reading the brochure as they walked back to the parked truck. "It says here that it has a rehab program."

"We can ask," said Leah.

They found the place easily. it was not far from the Police Department. It looked new, clean and neat. The garden was recently established and the trees still small.

"Not quite what I imagined," said Paul.

They asked at reception.

The old woman with the volunteer tag looked at him. "Are you her son?"

"Yeah," said Paul as if he hadn't spent his whole life denying it.

She looked visibly distressed. "Yes, Shania was here. She was part of our New Life Program. I am so sorry for your loss."

"What's New Life?"

"A program to help people with addictions."

"She was trying to get off the drugs?"

"Yes. But the strain… I think it was her heart. It happens sometimes."

"Did she leave anything? Any stuff?"

"I can ask. Can you wait?"

Paul nodded. He sat on the plastic chair with his leg jiggling from the tension. Leah put her hand on his thigh to stop it. He was making her crazy. He stilled under her touch. But she was suddenly acutely aware of him. He put his arm around her shoulder and pressed his face into her. She could hear him inhaling her. Breathing slowly and evenly. She patted his leg.

"Paul, is it?"

His head jerked up.

The old woman approached. She had that cautious old person way of walking, as if they placed their feet more carefully. They both stood.

She handed Paul a dog eared photo. It had been put in a ziploc bag to protect it. "We already donated all her clothes. I am sorry. We understood that she had no family."

Paul was silent; staring at the photo.

"That's fine.," Leah said. "I am sure her clothes can be better used by others. Thank you so much for your help."

"Bless you, young lady."

Leah pinched Paul and he suddenly spoke, "Thanks."

He almost stumbled as he walked. Leah got him outside. "What is it?"

"It's us." He held it out for her, without letting it go. "Look."

She saw a dog eared color photo. It had been the style then to have a thin white border around the edge. It was Niki, a young Paul and a laughing woman. She looked happy; they all did. Her long dark hair was tied back in a French braid. Their names were written on the back in blue as if to remind her.

"I remember that day. It took her ages to braid her hair. I lay on their bed and watched her do it." He paused. "She kept staring at herself in the mirror."

"Was she using then?" Leah asked quietly.

"I guess she might have been. Going spacey, staring at herself." He studied the shot. "It was one of those auto timer shots. See, Dad's hand is moving and look at his face. He didn't think it was going to go off. And just as he reached for it, it took the shot."

"That's why you're laughing."

"Yeah, we knew he was going to wreck it. The next shot we were all posed properly… but this one… this one was real."

"I'm glad we came to get it."

He held the bag up to his face and scented it. "She put it in the bag. That means it was important to her."

He had seen her body. Even dead, it would have her scent. "She kept it all this time. That also makes it important."

"She was trying to dry out."

"Paul. Don't go there."

He looked hurt. "Why not?" he whined.

"You don't know what she was doing or why she was doing it. Don't convince yourself that, after what? Ten years? She was going to show up and be your Mom and make your sandwiches for you."

"Harsh, Leah."

"Maybe, but I don't want to see you hurt again."

His face brightened. "You don't?"

Fuck. "No," she ground it out. "All it means is that she thought of you… at least some of the time."

"Yeah. I'll take that." He touched her carefully; just a hand on her arm. When she didn't smack him away or step back, he pulled her into a hug.

She was stiff and resistant until eventually, she softened a little. She felt his hand stroke down her back.

"You should be a were-porcupine," he whispered to her.

She wanted to smack him or growl at him, but she didn't. She also wanted to comfort him; the way Bella was able to do without trying too hard. He always did seem to confuse her.

So she let him hold her. They just stood there, holding each other. And unusually for Paul, he didn't push it. She remembered how she felt that night he had shown up so distressed. How it felt with the three of them in bed. Him sandwiched between them. And last night, all of them asleep together. That morning he had been careful to leave the bed before she woke up, too. He was trying so hard, and it had been a really bad couple of days for him, and it wasn't over, yet. She had hugged him outside the coffee shop yesterday; it was becoming a habit.

She had also seen inside his head and she knew that sex was one of the few things that made him happy.

She hugged him closer and pressed her lips against his neck. She felt him stiffen. She had been such a bitch to him recently; he didn't know how to judge her actions. "Did you want to… go… somewhere?" she asked. Shit! That made no sense. She sounded like a bumbling girl on her first date.

But he understood. "Don't tease me, Leah."

"I'm not."

"Yeah?" He looked at her face. "So it's a 'yes', today?"

"Yes."

He kissed her. He held her face in his hands and he kissed her hard.

Damn, he could kiss. He was desperate, emotional and needy. He needed her. He wanted her. She lost it. She grabbed at him. He spun them around and smacked her body into the side of his truck. He pressed his whole body against her; hard.

When they came up for air, she managed to say, "Can't go back to the hotel room."

"No. They might be there."

"Where?"

"Not here in the parking lot. Get in the truck. I'll drive," he said.


	30. Chapter 30

**chapter 30**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul drove back towards the hotel, but went around it and up the street behind. He glanced at her as he drove.

"Changed your mind?"

"No."

"Good."

This road was not as busy as the next one over closer to the port. He pulled up at a vacant lot they had noticed the night before on their search for fast food. Some of the trees had overgrown the yard. It was midmorning; they would be extremely visible.

The back wall of a motor service place was on one side of the lot and on the other side, an equipment rental depot. The lot was full of machinery of various sizes and kinds. The whole area was light industrial. She could smell oil, tires, fuel and another scent… paper? There must be a paper manufacturer nearby as well.

"Trees," he said, "Cover."

She was going to make a jibe about romantic locations, but she held her tongue. She nodded. Clearly he didn't want to do it in the truck. She had to agree, not enough room.

He slid over the bench seat and shoved her out the door. It wasn't their usual environment. It smelt like the city, the freight yards and the port, not the cedar odor of the forest. She heard a motorcycle rev. The motor shop fixed bikes, not cars. While she was looking around, Paul had stripped off his t-shirt and threw it back into the truck cab.

She hadn't got changed for the cremation ceremony yet, and she was still wearing a pair of jeans and runners. Paul grabbed her by the hand and she followed him over the low fence and into the block. The trees grew closer to the wall of the service shop as if there was a gap or a missing building in the center of the block. They made for the trees. Debris under her feet was all that remained of the structure; parts of a concrete slab and brick dust.

When she stopped walking and turned to face him, he reached for her shirt. He pulled it over her head and tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans so that it hung down his thighs. Her bra went next.

He aimed an eyebrow lift at her still covered hips.

"Why do I have to be naked?" she asked.

"I like you naked." His hands grasped her breasts. "I _really_ like you naked." And then he made a 'huh' noise as if he had just worked something out.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you later. Right now I want to fuck you." He started kissing down her neck. Holding and massaging her breasts. He let out a tiny growl and she dutifully undid her jeans.

She had forgotten to take her shoes off first. "Help me," she begged him.

He slid a hand inside her jeans and straight between her legs.

She moaned. He wasn't helping. He stroked her and she desperately toed her shoes off and then pushed her jeans down her hips to the ground. He picked her up. Her clothes were discarded on the ground. She wrapped her legs around him. Her nipples felt so hard brushing against his chest. She clutched at him down his back, pulling herself up against him and thrust her tongue into his mouth. He started backing her towards the wall.

Her back hit the rough concrete and she moaned again. His hand returned to between her legs. He had two fingers inside her now to knuckle depth. She gasped as he worked them into her. He held her up with one hand and she hung onto him with her arm around his neck. She was already so wet. She started panting a little and thrusting herself at him. He kissed her, pulled his hand out of her and used his body to press her up against the wall. He freed his cock from its constraints and sank into her. He held her under the thighs and rocked into her.

He smelt so familiar to her and her wolf. He felt so good. His long hard length filling her and withdrawing. Sunk into her and moving within her. She started to wind towards orgasm. Panting and grunting as he thrust into her. She was almost there - aware of nothing except him and her approaching peak.

He suddenly clapped one hand across her mouth. When she tried to move her head his other hand grabbed her at the back of the neck and held her firmly in place. She had a visceral reaction; a fear spike that widened her eyes and made her blink at him for a few seconds. What the fuck was he doing?

He glared silently into her eyes.

Then she could hear it.

Someone clearly talking on her phone. Crap. They were going to get caught.

"Yeah… well, that's what I said, Marjorie… uh-huh… who does he think he is?"

They stood utterly frozen, still staring at each other. They listened to the woman chat away to her friend and Leah prayed that she'd just fuck off. Paul winked at her and she frowned at him. Very slowly and carefully he started to move; not his hands, his hips.

Fuck. He kept fucking her. She was so close to that edge and now she had the extra fear of being caught, of her making a noise or groaning in her throat or something and the woman would hear them. She was sure of it. Her heart rate accelerated. And he knew it.

She tried to glare at him, but he just kept going.

"Oh, I know…" the woman said.

Leah wanted to do three things at once: breathe, fuck him and run. She couldn't get enough air in her lungs. If she tried to fight him they would definitely be discovered. The thought excited her.

He stared at her. His eyes were incredibly intense. He could read all her body language, the bastard. The wet sounds of them fitting together sounded so incredibly loud to her. If the woman even glanced this way, her t-shirt in Paul's back pocket was waving like a flag. She made a tiny mewling noise. She begged him with her eyes.

He ignored her. His lips formed a silent shush. And he kept fucking her. His hand tightened over her mouth. Her whole body was tense, trying to stop herself from orgasming. She dug her fingers into his body. He just grinned at her.

"Okay Marj… I need to go…"

The woman moved off as Leah lost her war with herself. He still held her head so the rest of her body jerked with her orgasm as he thrust into her slow and hard. Her eyes almost rolled into the top of her head. She did make a guttural noise in the back of her throat. He came with a tiny sigh.

He finally let her go and then she whisper hissed at him, "You jerkwad!" She rubbed her jaw with her hand. She'd be lucky if she didn't have his hand print across her face.

"You loved it," he whispered back.

"Oooh," she hissed in frustration.

"You did. I know that turned you on. Christ, Leah, you gripped me so hard you damn near bent me."

"I'll bend you-"

He kissed her before she finished that sentence. He was still buried inside her, still rocking gently; the slow churn afterward that felt so good, as she came down. She shivered with her aftershocks.

"You loved it," he accused again. They kept their voices low and quiet.

"Fine," she finally agreed.

He was kissing her shoulder; still leaning against her. "I know you."

She moved her neck with a grimace on her face. "You owe me a massage. I think I strained a muscle or something."

"Okay. It will have to wait until we get back to La Push."

She kissed him. She had suddenly remembered that they still had to do the cremation. "I want to go home, now."

"Me, too."

She frowned. "What were you going to tell me? Before?"

He looked confused for a second. "Oh." He gave her a broad grin.

"What?"

"It's only you," he said.

"Only me what?"

He gave her another churn movement. "You are the only one that I have ever actually come inside of."

She blinked. Condoms. He always used condoms, but not with her. Speaking of, she could feel it now starting to drip out of her. And she could scent it, too. He clearly thought it made a difference and she was not prepared to think about that right now. She shrugged it off. "Makes clean up easier to use condoms. But you like bareback?"

"Oh, yeah. And you feel right. The same temperature as me… you know?"

"Yeah, I've noticed that, too."

Leah's phone made a text received noise. They both heard it.

"That'll be Bella."

Paul sighed. "Time to go." They were still joined at the groin. "Pity," he said, "I could go again."

"Maybe later," she suggested.

He gave her a speculative look. "Uh, huh."

He pulled out of her and tucked himself away in his jeans. He carried her back to her shoes and stood between her and the road as she got dressed again. He was staring off into the distance, clearly lost in thought. She touched him gently on the back. "Bella wants us to meet her at the hotel restaurant."

He nodded, still staring off into the distance. She impulsively hugged him from behind.

"What's the matter?" Sex was supposed to make him feel better and he didn't look happy.

"I have to show Dad the photo."

"Yes," she agreed.

Silence for a beat.

"Do it now," she suggested. "Bella and I will leave you two alone after lunch. You need to talk to him."

She felt his sigh.

"I know."

"Do we have time to do that?"

"Guess we will find out now."

They walked back to the truck and he drove back to the hotel.

Niki and Bella were waiting in the foyer for them.

"We've been tourists," Bella said.

"Nice."

They made their way into the restaurant and sat down at a table.

"What did you guys get up to?" Bella asked.

Paul handed Niki the family photo in the plastic bag. "She was in a rehab program."

"Good for her," said Niki.

"You don't sound convinced."

"She'd tried rehab before."

"I didn't know that."

"No." He shifted in his seat. "Look, they've fitted us in for the cremation at 4pm. I have to wait around to collect the ashes tomorrow. You guys can go home. You don't have to stay tonight."

Paul and Leah exchanged a glance. They had both said earlier that they wanted to go now.

"Why don't we all eat lunch and then Leah and I can go to the room and get ready," Bella suggested. She glanced between the boys significantly. "And you two can talk."

Paul looked amused by her implied rebuke.

"Good idea, Bella," said Niki.

The lunch was an awkward affair. They all ordered sandwiches and sodas. Leah desperately wanted a shower. She ate her lunch quickly and then jiggled in her seat until Bella had finished. "Come on, baby, let's go to the room."

Bella leaned down to kiss Paul and he ran his hand down the back of her thigh. Niki noticed and shook his head. He studied his son.

"Can you hold yourself together?" Niki asked Paul.

Paul looked annoyed and then truculent. He supposed that was a valid question. He had lost it, phased and left his father alone in the forest. "Yeah. I can do it."

"The cops told me that they thought you made the 911 call that night."

Straight for the jugular. Thanks, Dad. "Yes."

"It's not your fault," Niki said. "I told Bella that last night. I also told her that I had already decided that we needed to leave. I had decided to take you back to La Push. The cops coming just made it all happen faster, but it would have happened anyway. It was inevitable."

"I just wanted a mom."

"I know."

"Like the other moms," Paul added.

"She would never have been like the other moms."

"No, probably not."

Paul studied his father. He seemed to be staring at a spot on the table. While they were talking, he thought he may as well ask a few other things that he had always wanted to know. "Why didn't you have other kids?"

Niki sighed. "She didn't want any kids."

"So I was an accident?"

"Kind of. An unexpected surprise."

Paul snorted.

"I always tried to convince her to have another one," Niki said. "I argued that two kids would play with each other, when one always needs your time. She could have more time to herself if she had another kid. But she hated being pregnant. She thought it made her unattractive."

"Wow." He didn't say that it might have cut into her addictions as well. "So you kept trying to convince her?"

"Yeah, for a while… until… you know." He looked at the photo. "We never had any problems in that department." He gave a rueful chuckle. "Might have ended sooner if we did." He looked up at Paul's worried face. "I never thought you were a mistake; not ever. And it doesn't matter if you made that call. Somebody had to. One of the neighbors probably would have that night."

Paul had a vague memory of lots of shouting. "What were you fighting about?"

"You."

"Oh."

"I found out that she was taking you with her when she went out to score."

"Shit. I don't remember that."

"I don't know how long she had been doing that. I said that was it; we were leaving."

"Did it shake her up? Make her stop?"

"Nope. She kept calling for a while. Asking for money mostly. She really missed my income." He sounded bitter.

"We left her alone for the court case."

"I told Bella about that, too. She got legal aid if we were gone."

"Income tested."

"Yeah."

Silence for a beat.

"You still angry with her?" Paul asked carefully.

"Yes. Always."

"You need to let that go."

Niki snorted. "Says you."

"We'll do it together," Paul suggested.

His son with the anger issue was going to help him. "Okay. Start again?"

"Cleansing fire."

Niki nodded. The cremation. They often did think alike. "For her, too." He picked up the photo. "Good times. She always was a little manic."

"Intense."

"Did you ever want a brother?"

Paul shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know any different than being an only kid."

"True."

He got a mischievous look on his face. "It's not too late, old man."

Niki laughed.

"You've got all the skills," added Paul.

"Uh, huh." Niki pointed at him. "Don't you go making me a grandfather yet, boy."

"Oh, heck no. I'm too selfish for kids."

Niki nearly said it, just like your mother. "Thanks for coming with me, Paul."

"No regrets."

"Really? I've got dozens."

"We should get changed."

"Let's just sit here for a bit. You want another drink?"

"Sure thing, Dad."


	31. Chapter 31

**chapter 31**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

"Phew," said Bella in the elevator, "I am glad to leave them alone."

Leah just nodded.

"I'm used to Charlie. Are all guys like those two?"

"Those two have been alone together for a long time. I think they are more alike than either of them would agree."

"That's true," said Bella.

"Man, I need a shower," said Leah.

The lift dinged and they headed towards the room. Leah had the first shower. Bella said she didn't need one. She stood in the bathroom putting her makeup on and chatting to Leah about what she and Niki had done that morning.

Leah was listening and making comments occasionally.

"So Paul's mom was in rehab?" Bella asked.

"Yeah. The place was clean and new. But it seemed like too little, too late."

"Paul coped?"

Again, Leah noticed Bella's concern for Paul. "Not very well…" She hesitated, but knew that she had to be honest. She turned off the shower and stood there for a second letting the water run off her body. "We had sex."

"Oh, good," said Bella as she put on her eye makeup.

Leah wanted to roll her eyes. She was never going to get used to this sharing thing.

"He probably needed that," added Bella.

"Yeah… I mean he went almost a whole day without sex." She was sarcastic.

"Good Lord, has it only been a day?"

"Pretty much."

Leah wrapped a towel around her body and stood behind Bella. She kissed her shoulder.

"How much time do we have?" Bella asked.

"What did Niki say? Four?"

"I feel really tired."

So the girls lay on the bed together and held each other. It felt good to have a quiet moment together. It had been an intense couple of days.

"I am glad you two are connecting better," Bella said.

Leah snorted. "We nearly got caught."

Bella chuckled. "Really?"

"Yeah, some lady talking on her phone snuck out of the workshop."

Bella was amused.

Leah didn't tell Bella how it had excited her. It was just a one-time thing. She tried to think about the body fluid thing. Paul thought it made a difference. She knew that it didn't just mean bareback, it sounded somehow more naked. A real connection with no barriers at all. None. Without even getting into the scent marking, fertility, procreation, and other wolf issues. It freaked her out a little. Thank heavens she was sterile. But because they did it that way, she carried his scent for days, in the most primal of ways.

The same way she had done when he had rubbed his ejaculate into her skin. She was still thinking about it when they both fell asleep.

The guys woke them up when they let themselves into the room.

The guys used the bathroom while the girls got dressed. Bella slipped on her black jersey dress and Leah got out her only little black dress. A relic from pre-wolf days with no sleeves and a short, thigh high hem. She still fitted in it. It was a little tight around the chest. She brushed Bella's hair for her and left it loose. She put her own behind her ears with two hair combs. Leah slipped into a pair of black pumps. They felt weird on her feet; it had been so long since she had worn nice shoes. They felt tight and constricting.

Bella had a pair of ballet flats on. She was not good in high heels.

"Wow," said Paul when he came out of the bathroom. "You two look great."

As he walked across the room, he whispered to Leah, "You should have had that dress on earlier."

"You would have wrecked it."

He grinned at her. "Yeah, maybe."

She looked him over. He had on plain black jeans and a white long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked good; really good.

"I pass?" he asked her.

"You're gorgeous," Bella told him.

He grinned at her and put his hand on her hip. "Soft," he said as he stroked his hand down her dress. "You look even smaller now, Munchkin."

"Did you borrow a shirt?" Bella asked.

"Dad bought two yesterday." He touched Leah on the neck. "How's your neck?"

Niki came out of the bathroom and saw the three of them together; Paul standing with his back to him but a hand touching each girl. He halted, and then seemed to get himself together. He cleared his throat. "You guys should pack now and then you can head off, straight after."

They all moved to start doing that. Niki sat on the bed to do up his shoes.

"I'll go with you," Paul offered. "Leah can drive my truck."

Niki nodded.

* * *

Paul and Niki were silent in the truck.

"What was up with you before?" Paul eventually asked him.

"The girls. They are both utterly beautiful, in different ways."

"Yeah. They look good together, too." They looked spectacular naked and together, but he didn't say that.

"Lucky bastard." Niki looked up the road before indicating to turn. "Are you going to fuck it up?"

"I'm going to try damn hard not to … but I worry."

"About?"

"We've kind of fallen into this, because of this week."

"And?"

"I worry about Leah."

"She and Bella were together before, right?"

Paul nodded.

"So now she has to share her girl with you?" Niki checked.

"She gets me, too," Paul argued.

"Uh, huh," said Niki. "I'm sure she sees that as a positive."

"I suppose I have just brought a pile of crap along this week."

Niki looked worried. "I've got no good advice for dealing with women. Just talk to her, I suppose."

"Yeah, Leah's not really one for talk."

"Is this wolf stuff, too?"

"Kind of. She's the only female in the pack."

"You told me it had got complicated before, was that what you meant?"

"Yeah, that was before I left to get some space with you. None of us know much about the wolf stuff. There is so much that is not written down and there hasn't been a pack for generations."

"And Leah is the first female," Niki said as he parked outside the Neptune Society.

"**Ever**. So we are feeling our way."

"Uh, huh. And you felt your way right into her pants."

Paul barked out a laugh.

They both looked up the road where the girls were standing outside waiting for them.

"You want them both," said Niki. It was not a question.

"Yep."

"Can't fault your taste. It just seems…"

"Complicated?"

"Oh, yeah."

There was silence for a beat.

"I don't want to get out of the truck," Niki confessed

"I'll hold your hand."

That got a laugh.

"I'll get out and then you will have to follow, otherwise you'll look like a dick," Paul said.

"Okay, okay. I'm getting out."

* * *

The Neptune Society was low key and functional. Some arrangements of white carnations were clearly left from an earlier ceremony.

"Ugh," said Leah, "I hate carnations. They stink."

"It's actually appropriate," said Bella. "Carnations for a mother and white for death."

"Now you sound like Seth," Leah added.

"Is this going to be religious?" Paul asked with suspicion.

"No," Niki said, "Non-denominational and green."

"Always thinking of the trees, eh, old man?"

"I thought I might take the ashes back to scatter them at La Push. Do you think she'd like that?"

Paul was pleased that his father had asked his opinion. "I think she would. The sea or the forest?"

"The sea."

"Changeable."

"Yep."

Bella thought that they looked more like brothers than father and son. Standing there, looking at each other, they both nodded.

The ceremony was very low key; with just the four of them.

"Did you want to say anything?" the woman presiding asked them after she had finished a small speech about life and memories. She did very well to look sombre and sincere, given she didn't know the deceased at all. Part of her job, Leah assumed.

She was taking some deep breathes; even with the stink of the carnations. She could do this. This was just a ceremony that had nothing to do with her. It wasn't her father in that box. She reached down and held Bella's hand. She got a small squeeze in comfort and she knew that Bella understood.

Niki went first. "I hope you find peace, Shania," he said.

Paul took a step forward. "Um… I'm glad you tried to dry out. I hope you got it in the end. Oh, and thanks for the photo."

Bella stepped up. "Thank you for giving us Paul."

They all looked at Leah expectantly.

She hesitated but then stepped forward. "I'm glad you let them both go back to La Push."

Niki gave her a balancing look.

She shrugged.

The woman pressed a button after a nod from Niki. A whirring noise started and the coffin moved through a small door in the wall.

"Are they going to burn the casket?" Paul asked.

"No. It's just for show," said Niki.

"Saving wood again? It does seem unnecessary to burn it."

"And saves money, I'm glad you agree with me."

Bella squeezed his hand.

"Sorry, I'll behave," Paul said.

"It's okay to cry," she suggested to him.

"I did all that before," he said, but he didn't let go of her hand.

She remembered how distraught he had been when he showed up at their place. He really wasn't one for emotional displays. That was clear from how much that breakdown had taken out of him.

"I did my mourning a very long time ago," Niki said, before she said anything to him. He had done his more recent mourning alone in the forest and that was how he preferred it.

They stood there for a minute.

"Are we going to stand in an empty room?" Leah asked.

The boys chuckled uncomfortably. Paul suddenly hugged his father. They stood there for some time with their arms around each other. Leah and Bella slipped out of the room to give them some privacy.

Bella slipped her arms around Leah's waist. "I am so proud of you," she told her. "You did really well in there."

"Thanks, baby."

Both of the guys were wiping at their eyes when they came out of the room. Bella hugged Paul, too.

"You'll wait in Tacoma until tomorrow?" Leah asked Niki. She already knew the answer; she was just trying to make conversation.

"Yes and then I will head back to La Push, too. I need to ask Billy Black's permission before I can scatter her ashes."

"Makes sense," said Leah. "He's the Chief." She glanced at Paul and Bella still holding each other. "If we are getting to be getting back to La Push tonight, then we should get going."

Paul let go of Bella and held his hand out.

Leah looked puzzled.

"Keys," he explained.

"In Bella's handbag." Leah wasn't the handbag type and she didn't have a pocket in this dress.

Bella patted Niki on the arm. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Thanks, Bella. I'll be fine. Thank you for bringing Paul. He probably wouldn't have made it without you girls."

She hugged him impulsively. He looked shocked for a second and then he returned her embrace.

"Drive safely," she told him.

He glanced at Paul.

"She's a hugger," he said.

"I never used to be," Bella said, "I don't know what's happened to me lately. It's probably being surrounded by all you strong, silent types."

"Not true," argued Leah, "Jake and Seth hug."

Paul's eyes narrowed at the thought of Jake and Seth hugging either of them.

Leah smacked him on the arm. "Don't you go getting territorial," she reprimanded.

Bella shooed them both towards the exit. "Come on, miles to go before we can sleep."

"Robert Frost," said Niki.

"Yes. Did Paul miss the poetry gene?"

Paul just snorted. "There is **not** a poetry gene."

"Clearly," said Bella.

Niki chuckled. "I'll see you guys later. I need to finalize things here."

They all said their goodbyes. Paul punched him on the arm; already back to his usual behavior.

Paul was driving, Leah had kicked her shoes off and Bella was sitting happily between them.

"What was that poem?" Paul asked.

"It's oddly appropriate," Bella said. "It's called 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening'."

"Sounds like the reservation already," quipped Paul.

"I can't remember all of it, but the last verse goes:

_The woods are lovely, dark and deep._

_But I have promises to keep,_

_And miles to go before I sleep,_

_And miles to go before I sleep."_

"That's pretty," said Leah.

They fell silent, each lost in their thoughts. Bella was thinking about promises, Paul was thinking about his father, usually alone in the forest and Leah was wondering what they were going to do when they eventually got home.


	32. Chapter 32

**chapter 32**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul was driving. He was in that zone, where he had half his brain concentrating on the road and the other half off somewhere else. He had just cremated his mother; a person he had tried terrifically hard not to think about for the last ten years. Even if he had done a lot of crying in his bed at night.

His father had asked if he was going to fuck it up with the girls. Shit, he hoped not. He could scent them both in his truck cab and he wanted nothing more than to curl up in the girls' bed with them - both of them. He wanted to be with them.

They had a home, with their painted walls and their shelves of stuff and things that meant something to them and the piles of well-thumbed books. There was even a little bowl of polished stones, clearly collected from the beach. He'd have to ask about that one day. He liked it. All that… stuff.

He half wanted it to be his home, but he had promised them that he would not be moving in.

His home had functional, non-decorative things. A sofa so worn that the holes had been repaired with duct tape and when that got holes, it was repaired with other, different colored duct tape. He and his father had never been sentimental. And with his mother gone from their lives, their home had been everything it needed to be and nothing more.

Bella baked and decorated and she cared. She hugged people. She tried to look after the new wolves. She mothered them.

Christ! If only that psych from years ago could talk to him now. She'd love that! He fucked his mother figure; that made him all kinds of fucked up.

Bella might be his mother figure, but Leah was his she wolf. He still had the impression that Leah was not happy. She had accused him of pushing in and, in a way, he was. It hadn't started out that way. His wolf was happy, he'd be happy with them both. But he knew it was their home. He decided to leave them alone tonight.

They stopped at a diner on the way to eat. Bella had said she was looking forward to eating some vegetables for a change. She read in the car and Leah laughed that she didn't know how she didn't get car sick. Bella's hand patted Paul's thigh occasionally. He started to almost wait for it.

It was nearly ten o'clock by the time he pulled up outside their place. "I need to get home, okay?" he preempted.

Bella looked at him, then reached up and brushed his hair off his forehead. "Yes. You might just need some space."

"Thanks. You both look great. Pity we didn't get a photo."

"We could do one now."

Bella brushed her fingers through her hair to tidy it up. Leah found her shoes and put them back on.

Paul took a few shots of them posing together on their front porch.

"Oh, hang on," Bella said. She darted inside and came out after a minute with something in her hand. She passed it to Paul. It was an empty photo frame.

"For the family shot. Is that the right size?"

"Looks it."

"There was a packet of them. It's only plain."

"It's perfect."

Paul kissed her chastely.

He turned to Leah. He tried to make himself look smaller. Downcast eyes and lowered his head. If he had a tail it would have been down between his legs.

She knew all the signs. He was trying to be less dominant, just for a second. For her. He was asking permission to kiss her.

She kissed him. A little less chastely than Bella had.

He passed her the bags from the back.

The girls stood there and watched him drive away. Bella lifted her hand as if she was going to wave and then stopped herself.

* * *

Paul got home and sat on the badly repaired sofa holding the photo and the frame in his hands. If he used it, he was starting down that road of sentimentality. But he kind of wanted it. He was tired of erasing things that ought to matter from his life.

Christ what had possessed him to say that dumb ass line to them about flying back to the girls, if they pushed him out? Thank Christ Bella thought it was cute. He had just had verbal diarrhea; couldn't shut up that morning. It occurred to him that this small frame would be the same as the ones the girls had in their house. A little line stretched between them.

He ripped off the covering and opened the back.

* * *

"I hope he will be okay," Bella said, looking up the road in the direction Paul's truck had gone.

"He'll be fine," Leah answered.

"I am so tired."

"Bastard. He promised me a massage after he wrecked my neck."

"I'll do it for," Bella offered.

"Awesome! You're sure? Didn't you just say you were tired."

"Never too tired to run my hands over your body."

Leah laughed. She felt better to hear that. She ran inside with the bags and dumped them on their bedroom floor.

Bella laughed ,too. "You cannot leave them there," she chided. "It will take us five minutes to unpack."

They unpacked together. Bella put the condoms back in the top drawer.

"You didn't get to use them," Leah said.

"No, but it was good to have them. Just in case. I would have worried otherwise." They did their usual bedtime routine. It felt familiar and comfortable. They stripped off their clothes. Bella slipped on a large t-shirt that she wore as sleepwear.

Leah threw herself face down on the bed. She put a pillow under her chest so that her neck was straight. Bella straddled her and started massaging her back. The bed smelt of Paul. "We have to change the sheets tomorrow."

"I have to call Mrs Newton and you had better contact George, too, and see what time he wants you back at work."

"Not now," Leah mumbled into the bedclothes.

"Of course, not now."

Silence for a little while as Bella kneaded and pressed into Leah's muscles. Leah could have purred with Bella touching her. She loved it.

"Leah?"

"Mmf."

"Are you really okay about Paul… being with us, I mean?"

Leah thought about it. "I wasn't… before…"

Bella waited.

"Okay." A pause.

"We only decided to do this a couple of days ago," Leah added, "but I am trying."

"He's trying, too," Bella suggested carefully.

"I know. Did you see the way he squished himself down to ask for a kiss just before he left?"

"Oh, is that what he was doing?"

"Being submissive."

"Wow. Is that why you frighten Collin and Brady?"

Leah thought it was more because she was quite capable of actually hurting them. "Kind of," she admitted.

"There is so much of this wolf stuff that I don't know."

"You don't need to know it, you keep us human," Leah mumbled into the bed.

She got some love for that. Bella leaned around to kiss her face. She returned to massaging her back and Leah eventually fell asleep; safe in her own home, with her partner.

* * *

In the morning Paul showed up at Sam's to see where they were working that day.

Sam nodded at him. "Coffee?"

"Sure."

They stood in the quiet kitchen with mugs in their hands. Emily was still asleep. Lately she had taken to sleeping in; normally she would have got up and cooked Sam a full breakfast before he left the house. Cereal was on the menu now as she had trouble sleeping with the pregnancy.

"So you're back?" Sam asked.

"Yeah."

"Sorted?"

"Kind of. Cremated her. Dad will be back today sometime."

Sam nodded.

"How's the pack?"

"There's been some worry."

Paul looked at him. If Sam said it, then it had to be about him. "About me? Why?"

"Some chat that you have muscled in on the girls' relationship."

Paul knew the pack. It wouldn't actually be concern for the girls, it would be along the line of 'if he can do that to them, what can he do to me?' They cared about their imprints with a singular attention.

"I'm not going to touch their fucking imprints," he growled. "Assuming the lame asses actually manage to ever get any. Emily is yours, and Kim is about as interesting to me as moss on a log. Bella isn't Leah's imprint anyway." Then he realized where some of it might have come from. "Seth blabbed. He hates me right now."

"You'll have to fix that."

"Fucked if I know how."

"Just try."

"I'm not going to stop fucking his sister. If he has an issue with that, it'll be just that - his issue."

"And Bella?"

"Fucking her, too."

"Jeez, you know how to complicate your life."

"It works for me. You were the one who said I liked them both in different ways."

"Yeah, I suppose I was. So both of them? They agreed?"

"Only a couple of days ago."

"Ah." Sam got it. When he had come back so bereft at the news that his mother was dead. "You ignored alpha orders, you know."

"When?"

"That night you came running back here."

"I did?" Paul sounded surprised. "I didn't even hear you, Sam."

"I thought that might be the case."

Paul rinsed out his mug in the sink. "Were they all out there?"

"Most. Not Seth, if I remember it right."

"Shit. The one night I really didn't want the whole pack in my fucking head."

Sam nodded. "It was pretty chaotic. Seemed to be just this blind panic that you had to get to the girls. I had the pack on standby. When you ignored me-"

"You went ahead and warned the girls that I was coming," Paul interrupted.

"Yeah."

That was how they were already arguing before he even got there.

"You still care about her," he accused Sam.

Sam looked pained around the eyes. "She's… Leah." He shrugged.

Christ, he wouldn't just have Seth on his ass if he hurt her, Sam would have a piece of him, too. And Jake would scalp him if he hurt Bella. Fuck, he did know how to complicate his life.

* * *

Niki did the paperwork and paid for the ceremony. He thought about Shania. Paul had said she was manic, that was actually a good descriptor for her. Her highs were high and her lows were low.

Part of what he was so sad about was the lost opportunities. If she had channeled that intensity into art or some creative outlet, he could have handled it. Maybe she wouldn't have needed the drugs if she had had an outlet like that? He'd told Paul that she had tried rehab before, and she had, and failed… every single time.

It didn't matter how much he supported her. The smallest thing would send her into a spiral and she'd be back onto the stuff. Either she just had that kind of personality or her issues were so far back in her past, that he couldn't help her with them.

But he had tried to help, until he had to choose to do the right thing for their son.

And he still felt a little guilty for not having another kid and half guilty for having one in the first place. Although he loved his son and was very glad that Paul existed. He could not have got through this, or the last few years at all, without him. He was so intent on holding himself together for his son.

He slept fitfully that night and was back at the Neptune Society at the arranged time to collect her ashes. The container was functional and plain. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. It seemed wrong to shove her in the back of the truck or let her roll around on the floor. Scattering her ashes in his truck seemed disrespectful.

Feeling foolish, he sat the urn on the front seat. He looked at it and then decided it might fall off, so he put the seat belt around it.

He started driving towards home and what he hoped would be her final resting place. The sea was the perfect place for her; changeable, dramatic and unable to be tamed. Just like her. He found his thoughts turning to her as often as he glanced at the urn. He even bought lunch at a drive through so that he didn't leave her alone in the car.

"Did you see our son?" he asked the truck cab, when they were back on the road.

"Pretty handsome, eh? You would have noticed him in the street." She had always been open about her appreciation of other men. He didn't think she had ever cheated on him. She argued that she still had eyes and as long as she fucked him, what did he care?

He had told Paul they had never had problems in bed and that was true; they fucked like bunnies. She had brought that same intensity for life into the bedroom and he had never really found anyone that affected him the same way.

Maybe the truth was that his heart wasn't in it with anyone else? He hoped that this would be cathartic for him, too. That he could finally let her go, as well. That they could both find peace.

"Did you let us go?" he asked her.

Leah's comment at the ceremony had got him thinking. Shania kind of had let them go. She could have followed them. She knew where they were going and Tacoma was just over four hours away. Had she stayed away? Had she done it for Paul? Known he would be better off with his father and his tribe? Now, he would never know.

Niki was unsurprised to see the house empty.

He was surprised to see the family snapshot framed and sitting in the center of the mantelpiece. He put her urn next to it. He nodded to himself. He'd be willing to bet the frame had something to do with Bella.


	33. Chapter 33

**chapter 33**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Charlie phoned Bella at work the next morning. Just to chat.

She was instantly suspicious. He rarely phoned her at work. "Hey, Dad."

"How did the trip go?"

So, he knew about the trip. Rez gossip was fast. "To Tacoma? It was a bit emotional but I am glad we both went for Paul and Niki."

"Good." A pause. "So you're okay?"

Holy crow. What did he think had happened on the trip? "It made me a little sad , you know ,thinking about Grandma Higginbotham." She was the last grandparent of Bella's to pass away; Renee's mother. Charlie's parents were much older and had she had never really known them.

"Funerals. Yeah."

She heard a voice call out in the background.

"I need to go," said Charlie.

"Okay. We'll do a dinner one night."

"Good. Looking forward to it."

Bella frowned at the phone after he hung up. What was he up to?

* * *

Leah had her own parental issues. Sue stopped for gas.

"Hi, Honey," she chirped happily. Too happily, Leah thought.

"What's up, Mom?"

"Oh. Nothing." Sue stood there looking Leah over. "Aren't you going to clean my windshield?"

"Sure, sure." Leah got the window washer and started cleaning her mother's car.

"So, how was… Niki?" Sue asked.

Leah knew that was not what she meant to say. "Niki was coming back today with Shania's ashes. He'll probably need to ask Billy or the council for permission to scatter them. As a council member, Mom, you should be aware of that. Bella is good and Paul, is fine. Thanks for asking."

"I didn't ask about Paul."

"I know, but you wanted to."

Silence. Leah carefully lifted and cleaned under the windshield wipers.

"So, he's back?" Sue prompted.

"He is."

"Was this your decision?"

When she had talked to her mother before about Paul, she had been concerned about Leah making decisions that affected both girls on her own. "Some, but this was mostly Bella's decision."

"Oh. The same issues still stand, if she is making decisions for you both."

Leah felt it was mostly her wolf making her decisions for her, but she didn't say that. "He's not moving in, Mom. He's just… back."

"And in your life?"

"Yes."

"You don't sound particularly happy about that, Leah."

She got the impression that if she had a middle name her mother would have used it. "I just don't like discussing my private life." She shrugged. "It is what it is, Mom."

"How am I supposed to explain it to people?"

"You don't. It's none of their business."

Her mother made a small grumbling noise. "Seth's worried," she tried.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Seth can …" She wanted to say butt out, but her mother would be offended too. "… speak to me if he wants to."

Her mother looked worried.

"Don't worry about me. It'll be fine."

George just looked at her as she stomped back into the workshop and held his hands up in a surrender gesture. "I'm not asking anything."

When Sam showed up that afternoon, she nearly bit his head off.

"Fuck's sake, Leah. I just came to ask about patrols on my way home."

"Ohhh." She wanted to punch something.

"Okay… can you do patrols?"

"Yes."

"Fine."

"Text me."

"Good."

Sam left.

Just as well, there was no way she was discussing Bella and Paul with him.

* * *

Paul left the girls alone for two whole days. He went out and got a cell-phone. He had never wanted one for the pack to make their life easier, but now he wanted to be able to contact the girls. And then he messaged Bella and told her that he was bringing over dinner that night.

She messaged back, pleased that he had a phone now and asking about side dishes. He smiled and told her something green and from the vegetable family. He had remembered her whining about the lack of vegetables on their trip to Tacoma.

He arrived with a cooler and a couple of planks of wood under his arm.

Bella was home early, she had slotted back into work at Newtons. She was becoming more of an office manager than a sales assistant. She kissed him, then gave him an odd look over the planks. He put everything down in the kitchen.

"Is that another shelf for me?" she asked. "It seems kind of little." She poked at the wood. "And wet."

"Nope. I am going to cook the salmon on them."

"What?"

"Cedar plank salmon," he said. "You've never had it?"

"You want to cook a piece of wood in my oven?" she sounded territorial.

"You don't have a grill pit," he pointed out.

"What if it catches on fire?"

"It won't catch on fire. You can stand there with a spray bottle of water and guard it, if it makes you feel better." He sidled in close to her and hugged her. "Trust me," he crooned to her.

"Humph."

"Seriously. It'll work. I've done it before." He kissed her. "I'll build you a fire pit for another day." He picked her up and sat her on the kitchen counter, closer to his height. She had her arms around his neck and her legs open around his hips. His head pulled back as he heard something.

"Leah's coming."

"Stay right where you are," Bella told him.

"Okay." He nuzzled her neck. "We can put the potatoes on to bake first. Plenty of time."

"For?"

He chuckled and stepped back away from her.

She laughed. But pouted at him leaving.

Leah walked in just after that.

"Paul brought dinner - salmon," Bella explained.

"Did you catch them?" Leah asked.

"Yep."

Leah nodded. Paul was bringing food to them; it almost made her laugh. An offering to the females. A good wolf male always fed the dominant female first. And it was something he had caught himself; not just bought at the store. It was a gift. She was a little impressed.

Paul had turned on the cooker and was getting foil wrapped potatoes out of the cooler.

Leah kissed Bella while she was conveniently sitting up on the counter.

"How was your day?" Bella asked her. Their foreheads pressed together.

"Not bad. That guy came in for oil again."

Bella laughed. "What does he do with it? Drain it out and throw it away?"

"Either that or he has a serious engine problem."

"Which guy?" Paul asked.

"Oh," said Bella, "This guy comes in every week and buys a quart of oil."

"Every week?" he checked.

Leah nodded. "Every Friday."

Paul laughed. "He's checking your engine, Leah."

"I know. He barely speaks to me, though. It's the weirdest thing."

"I am betting that one day he asks her on a date," Bella added.

Paul chuckled. "I bet George loves him."

"Loves him. Best customer ever." Leah rolled her eyes. "Drags me out of whatever I am doing to serve him."

Paul shut the stove. "Potatoes are on, what else?"

"Green beans and carrots are prepared and waiting in their microwave containers." Bella pointed at the counter. "They will take five minutes."

"Cool," Paul said. "They can cook while the salmon bakes."

"So we've got time," Bella suggested.

"For?" asked Leah.

"A quickie," said Bella.

"I don't do quickies," Paul said.

Bella smiled. "Consider it the first part."

"Of how many parts?" he checked.

"I don't know… three?"

Paul smiled.

"But…" Bella added.

The others waited for her to finish.

"…I need help to get down from here."

Leah laughed. She kissed Bella and then lifted her off the counter top and carried her towards their bedroom.

"Let me just use the bathroom," Paul said. "I'll be there in two minutes."

* * *

He shed his clothes as he walked towards the bedroom. The girls were tangled up together. Still wearing their panties. He loved the way they looked together. The differences; obvious in skin color and hair length. They looked like two friends having a wrestle, but then he noticed that Bella's hand was on Leah's breast and Leah's hand was hidden inside Bella's panties. Leah made a low, throaty laugh.

Jeez. He could just sit here and watch them together and be happy. And probably jerk off. Fuck, that was hot. But another part of him was eager to join them. That part won.

He approached the bed slowly. Leah's house, Leah's bed, Leah's woman. He touched her first; a gentle palm press on the calf. When she didn't pull away, he slid that hand up her leg. He lowered his face and kissed her hip. Then a kiss to Bella's hip. He put his mouth over her panties and blew warm air onto her skin. She squirmed. He felt her hand pat him on the head. Oh, good. He was hoping to fuck Bella first.

He kept his body low and didn't loom over them. He slid up and tucked himself in behind Bella. He slid his arm under her head, through her hair and across to hold Leah. They shuffled together and pressed Bella between them. Paul stroked down the back of Leah's neck.

Bella made a noise at the feel of the two of them, sandwiching her between them.

Paul's other hand went around her waist and dipped lower. Leah had sat up a little and was pulling Bella's panties down her legs. She leaned over backwards and Paul couldn't work out what she was doing until she dipped into the top drawer. Condoms. She held one up in her fingers and gave him a look. He grinned back at her. He rolled onto his back, taking Bella with him. One hand on Bella's breast and the other holding her between the legs. "No hands," he said to Leah.

He slid Bella up his body until her head lay on his shoulder and her face leaned against his cheek.

"Paul," she sighed.

"Leah will look after you," he told her. He put his hands down to her thighs and pulled them open; displaying her and with her shorter body length, himself underneath, as a bonus for Leah.

It most definitely caught her attention. "Oh my," she said and licked her lips.

It was Leah who loomed over him now and he could have cared less. She could be dominant now. He was literally on the bottom of this pile. Once her lips closed around his cock he was in heaven. Bella lying on him, moaning as Leah went to work. Her fingers dipping into Bella and stroking him. Her tongue working over them both.

"Leah!" Bella cried out. Her nails sank into Paul's hip as she grabbed at him underneath her. Her other hand was knotted in Leah's hair.

He heard the wrapper tear and then Leah's hand guided the condom over his rigid shaft. There was a bit of maneuvering and shifting of bodies, Paul lifted Bella off him for a second as Leah guided his cock inside her lover. Leah gripped Bella's thighs and pulled her down onto Paul's cock. He groaned and Bella cried out. Her hands lifted in the air to grab at nothing and then Paul laid her back down on his chest. His hands closed over her breasts.

Leah lowered her mouth to Bella's swollen clitoris.

Paul lifted his head to look down Bella's body to Leah's dark head. She looked up at him; her eyes gleamed. Whatever she did made Bella clench around him like a fist. "Whoa," he muttered. He desperately wanted to move but held himself in check until he saw Bella's foot lift in the air and her toes curl. She was close. He could feel the sweat between their bodies. He really wanted to fuck her. "Leah?" he asked. It sounded low and desperate. Her answer was to grip his balls in her hand. He groaned.

"Please, Leah," he begged.

Bella groaned. Paul pinched her nipples. Leah scratched her nails up his side and he grunted. Bella reached her breaking point; she orgasmed between them.

Paul watched her and as Leah lifted her head, he lifted his hips and started to move inside Bella. She wailed. Her hands grabbed at Leah. She pulled her on top of her. Paul barely noticed the extra weight. Their sweat soaked bodies slid together. Paul fucking Bella. Bella and Leah kissing hungrily on top of him. Leah lifted up on her arms over both of them. She leaned over Bella's shoulder and kissed him. She tasted like him and Bella; all mixed together and it was that thought that made him lose it. He came. Thrusting hard into Bella. The three bodies sliding together.

They lay there for a few seconds, panting and getting their breath back before Leah threw herself onto her back next to them.

"Fuck, that smells good," Paul commented.

"Tastes good, too," Leah said.

They all laughed.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

**[AN: I swear, these two make me nuts! This was not what I had planned, but they are determined... stupid characters with minds of their own...]**

Paul had his cutoffs on, he was standing in the kitchen smearing his salmon steaks with mustard as they sat on the soaked planks. Bella was hanging at his shoulder, watching what he was doing. She had just slipped a dress over her head and was wearing nothing else. She kept touching his bare back.

"Now the brown sugar. Just crumble it over the top," he instructed.

"That's it?"

"Yep."

Leah was wrapped up in her silk kimono, sitting at the table, her legs up on the other chair watching them together.

"Nothing else… not some lemon juice or something?"

"No… and if you add anything I will throw you out of the kitchen."

"But it's my kitchen."

"Don't make me draw a line on the floor," he threatened.

"A line that I can't cross?" she checked. She looked mischievous.

"Watch it, girl."

She chuckled. "I'm not scared of you."

"Uh, huh."

She poked him in the side and he growled at her.

"Shouldn't you have a shirt on? That's the house rule."

"Not for cooking, only for eating." He grinned at her again. "You can eat with no shirt on at my house."

She ignored that. "How long will they take to cook?"

"Twenty minutes should be long enough."

She skipped across and put the vegetables in the microwave. She looked so happy.

Paul glanced at Leah as he lifted the plank. "Fuck, only one will fit. You girls need a fire pit."

"We need an internal laundry, first," Bella said.

"The other plank will have to wait. Bring your laundry over to my place if it's an emergency."

"You want me to bring you my dirty laundry?" Bella asked.

"Always," he deadpanned.

Leah snorted. "Take out the potatoes," she suggested. "They should be done and they'll stay hot."

"Good idea!"

They both leaned over the cooker. Once the potatoes were removed, the other plank fitted easily.

"It really won't burn?" Bella asked.

Paul touched his nose.

"Oh yes. I forgot."

Paul walked over to Leah, lifted her legs, sat on the chair and placed her legs back in his lap. She gave him a look. He started massaging her ankles.

Bella jigged excitedly in place

"What are you doing?" Paul asked her.

"I can't wait to see you two together." She put her fists up and made a squee noise.

"We've been together," Leah argued.

"Of course we all have but I haven't watched you two… fuck." She was determined. "I would remember that."

Paul tried to think about it. "First time with all three of us, Leah sat on my face."

"And then you left," Bella said.

He shrugged.

"I know why you left," Bella added, "it's okay."

Leah was still thinking. "Really?" They had fucked in the forest, up against trees, in vacant building sites, she had even fucked him… had Bella never watched them? Of course, she had been in a fit about Paul being too violent. She studied him. He wasn't the same guy that he had been. She had a feeling this Paul would not have half choked her and slammed her back into a tree. Christ, that seemed like months ago.

"Yeah. Every time it's been us, we've been alone." Paul was still rubbing his hands over her feet.

"But Bella will miss out," Leah protested.

"Don't be silly," Bella argued, "I just had my turn. And if you want to be truthful, you were the one who kind of missed out before."

Paul made eyes at Leah. "It's your turn, next." His hand skated up the inside of her leg.

"Watch it," she warned him.

"I need to eat first," he said.

She actually shivered. She was damn sure which kind of eating he meant. It was the pressure of his hand on her leg and the careful way that his dark eyes watched her.

Paul smiled at her and for just a second he looked as dangerous as she knew he was. That was the old Paul, and as if he knew what she was thinking, he lifted an eyebrow at her. She resisted the urge to drag her feet out of his lap. He held them firmly where they were; pressing them into his groin.

She inhaled carefully. "The salmon smells almost done."

"I don't think it is," Paul said. He was still watching her exceptionally carefully as if she was going to bite his hand or something.

Leah tried to think. He confused her when he was like this. This dual nature…

Shit. It was the wolf. He was as double natured as she was. He had said a long time ago that she wanted hard and Bella wanted soft, and that he could do both for them. Well, so could she. She had that dual nature, too. She could be soft with Bella. And that left her… what? Hard with… him? He had told her that her wolf wanted him, and that she wanted Bella.

She had fucked him. She had wanted to pin him down and bite him. She had wanted to see her teeth marks on his body. It had taken all her self-control to not do it when she was pegging him. She had thought of herself as an alpha female that night.

But the other time at the tree when he had gone all dominant on her, she had denied the feelings; denied the need to dominate him… and it had gone all wrong. He had the upper hand when she played the submissive.

Stupid fucking wolf. It was what it wanted, or, as her mother pointed out, her; the wolf was a 'her'. Was this what the wolf wanted? This… male had come into her den and offered her gifts of food. He had fought her and earned the right to mate. Her mother had even asked her if Paul was a dominant wolf in the pack.

Was he her alpha male, or the closest thing she had to it? And human Leah wasn't keen on having any males in her life.

She had fought with Sam and Jake. She had ignored and argued with both alpha males of the pack. And Sam had said that Paul had ignored alpha orders, too. What was he like with Jake? Jake was the true alpha; he had an air of authority even if he tried hard not to cultivate it.

"Have you spoken to Jake lately?" she asked.

"What the?" Paul put his hand up to his face. "Ahh… I'm trying to think… the last time I spoke to Jake was the day I went to stay with Dad."

"What did you say to him?" Leah asked.

Bella looked confused. She glanced between them.

"He was being an ass; accusing me of forcing myself on you two."

"What?" Bella asked. "He said that?"

"Yeah. He was just angry and trying to keep his new girl a secret."

"So you were wolves at the time?" Leah knew it was harder to deny the alphas in wolf form, than human.

"Yeah," Paul chuckled. "Lucky. He wanted to kick my ass. I told him he'd have to run a long way to do it."

"So you were your usual self? Cheeky and disrespectful."

Paul tilted his head. "Told him to check his facts; talk to Sam."

Leah nodded.

"Leah?" he checked.

"Nothing." That was his usual self. If he was like that all the time, was she just imagining things? He wasn't an alpha, just a dominant wolf in a pack of teenage boys.

He squeezed her leg to get her attention.

She shook her head. "The salmon really is done, now."

Paul lifted her feet down and put them back on the chair. Bella complained about him putting the hot planks down on the table and shoved cork mats under them.

The meal was delicious. They ate everything. Paul didn't put his shirt on and Bella didn't notice.

Leah relaxed again with the casual conversation and the ease with which they fitted together. But she hadn't forgotten her thoughts. She just didn't know what they meant or if they were a wolf pair. Then something else occurred to her; she had ignored alpha orders, too.

What did that make her? And most worryingly to her, where did Bella fit in all this?

* * *

They washed up together. Leah was at the sink, staring into the water. Paul wiped dishes and Bella put them away.

Paul was panicking. What the fuck had just happened? They had gone from excited, eager Leah, to worrying, stressed Leah. Waves of stress were coming off her. She would have been biting her nails if she had any. He should have just fucked her as well. He didn't even need to stop to get a condom on. His wolf was annoyed. His scent was starting to fade from her skin and he wanted it back.

The wolf wanted him to drag her down to the kitchen floor, hold her down and just fuck her.

The man thought she'd just freak; the way she had before when he had fucked her against the tree. He knew she wanted this. At least he thought she did.

Fuck! He was starting to doubt himself now. Why didn't he just fuck her too? Let the stupid potatoes burn.

He had tried being less dominant and it wasn't fucking working. Or the fucking wasn't working. And why the Hell was it always Leah Clearwater who confused him like this? Every other woman on the planet, he knew what to do with. Her? He was confused and acting out of character.

If she wanted dominant, she could have it.

He threw the dish cloth down. "That's it!"

Bella looked at him worriedly.

He grabbed Leah by the top of the arm and dragged her away from the sink.

"What the fuck?" she growled. She smacked at him. Not that hard, he noticed.

"Get your ass into bed. I'm done waiting."

She stood up to him. "What? You think you bring me food and you get to fuck?"

Oh, now. Where had that come from? He stared her down. "I don't know what the fuck you have got yourself upset about, but we were going to fuck tonight and I reckon we ought to get onto that. And the food has nothing to do with it."

Her jaw clenched.

"Or," he added, "I could just fuck you here. Or did you want to go out in the forest and fight for a while? I could do that."

"Why is it always what **you** want?"

"What the fuck? Don't give me that shit! I just offered a few different options for you."

"All involving fucking."

"Of course! That's what you wanted earlier."

"Jeez you are an arrogant dick."

"No. Leah. You wanted this, I know you did."

"I-"

"You are confusing yourself," he interrupted. "Stop thinking and feel!"

"Fuck! What are you, a therapist now?"

Paul reached for her gown and started to undo the sash.

Leah smacked his hands. "Don't touch that! It was a gift from Bella."

"I wasn't going to tear it; I was just going to get you naked."

Bella walked past them and went into the bathroom. She shut the door firmly behind her.

"Now look what you've done!" Leah hissed at him.

"I didn't do anything."

Leah rushed over to the door. "Baby?" she called out.

Paul could hear Bella's response. "Oh, have you finished?"

"Finished?" Leah asked.

They both waited for a little while. The toilet flushed, the door opened.

Bella stood there with her arms folded. "If I wanted to live through that again, I could just put my parents in a room together."

No response.

"Honestly, you two. That was many things, but sexy it was not."

"Sorry, Bella," Paul apologized.

Leah just pouted.

"Do I have to push you together, or something?" Bella asked.

Leah shrugged.

Bella continued, "I do not know what you are worried about Leah, but Paul is right. You did want this before. Maybe we shouldn't have stopped for dinner."

"That was exactly what I was thinking," Paul said.

Leah glared at him.

"I can't even curl up in bed with either one of you, because the other will get upset." Bella pointed at each of them. "So I am going to bed to read for a while. You two sort yourselves out." She started towards the bedroom, but then stopped and came back. She kissed each of them quickly and left again.

"This is your fault," Leah accused.

Paul rolled his eyes and went back to the sink. He started scrubbing the planks. His shoulders were hunched up around his ears. He looked angry and frustrated.

Leah stood there. It wasn't his fault. She was fucking it up again. She hated herself.

She huffed out a breath.

He heard it. "I don't know what is the right thing to do," he said. "An hour ago you had your lips wrapped around my dick."

"I know," she whispered.

"So pardon me, if I can't understand why you don't want me now."

"It's not you."

He snorted and kept scrubbing the plank.

Silence.

"Talk to me, Leah."

"I'm worried about Bella."

"Bella wanted to see us together."

"I know."

"You're not worried about her… she's just the excuse."

He set the planks to drain and turned around to face her.

She wouldn't look at him.

He walked over and snagged his t-shirt from the floor. He slipped it over his head. He started collecting the rest of the stuff he had brought.

"What are you doing?" Leah asked.

"I'm going home."

"Oh."

"You're not talking to me, so I can't fix it." He threw the planks into the cooler and tossed the lid in too. "You won't even look at me. Think about how that makes me feel."

She didn't say anything.

"Fuck this for a joke. Go back to your vibrator. I'm done." He picked up the cooler and headed for the door. "Thank Bella for dinner for me."

He didn't look at her now.

He got out the door and sat on the porch to put his shoes on. She followed him almost silently; just the silky swishing of her kimono.

His wolf was not very happy with him, but he ignored it.

He knew she was right behind him. She squatted down and put her arms around his neck. He could smell her, naked under the robe. Christ, he wanted to fuck her. Her face pressed in on the back of his neck as his head hung down, his forearms resting on the top of his knees. He had a memory flash of her fucking him from behind that went straight to his cock.

She rubbed her face on the back of his spine. He didn't move. He felt her lips press against him.

"I'm sorry," she breathed onto him.

He still didn't move.

Her hand slid under his shirt. She turned her head and rested her cheek on him. He took a deep breath.

They stayed that way for a few seconds.

Then he lifted his arm up.

She slid around and under the arm. She sat on his lap, straddling him and pressing their groins together. She was a little too tall to do it comfortably, but she tried to tuck herself down. Her arms went around his chest; also pulling her body down and making herself smaller.

Tentatively his arms closed around her back.

Her head shifted and she pressed her lips against the edge of his jaw. He leaned back to give her more room. She kissed along his face until she reached his lips.

They kissed almost carefully.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again when she had his full attention.

He nodded, but said nothing.

"You try so hard for me. I tie myself into knots. I'm… scared."

"I know."

"I don't know what I want, and I am worried about Bella."

"Just be you, Leah."

"Me?"

"Angry, argumentative, fighting Leah." He kissed her again. "That's the one I like. And Bella's fine. She knows what she wants." When Bella made up her mind, she threw herself into it with her whole heart. At least that was what she had done with him, way back the first time they had sex. Leah baulked; chopped and changed and jigged back and forth. She had jumped him in the forest and ridden him down to the ground. He loved that. He knew she had been hurt in the past. But it was just that, past.

"Don't think about the past," he added.

She moved her arms to hold him around the neck. Her face returned to kiss along his neck.

His hand slid up her bare thigh to her ass. "But let me be me, too." He thought he knew what turned her on. Him being hard with her. The gagging, public sex thing had got her very excited. "You missed out before," he hinted.

He felt her smile against him.

"Next time we don't stop for food until everyone has been looked after," he said.

She nodded.

He stood, lifting her easily with him. He left the stuff; he had what he wanted in his arms, and the other half was reading quietly inside the house.


	35. Chapter 35

**chapter 35**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: I should say, because some have asked, and I follow the guide that for each person who asks, there are a hundred who didn't. This isn't 'Best Friends share everything' where they fitted together perfectly, right from the start. These three are going to fight and hurt each other and I am going to have to smash it apart in order to glue it together properly, so that it will stay glued together forever. They will get their HEA, but not without some tears along the way.]**

* * *

They got inside the door. Paul was still carrying Leah.

"You know what my wolf wanted to do to you?" he asked her in a low voice.

She shook her head.

"He wanted me to push you down to the floor, hold you down and fuck you."

"Typical."

"Pretty much."

He stood there.

She waited.

He raised an eyebrow. It was a question.

"Don't tear the robe," she said.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

He sat her on the arm of the sofa while he undid his cutoffs and dropped them to the floor. He was half hard already. His cock sprang out.

He reached for her arm as if he was going to pull her towards him. She smacked it away.

He stopped for a beat and then he saw that she had a glint in her eye. It was a game. "Okay," he said.

She smiled.

He grabbed her harder. His wolf chuffed happily. This time he went for the legs. He flipped her legs up so that she fell down the arm of the sofa, her head hit the cushions and her feet stuck up in the air. He shoved the robe open and buried his face between her legs. He ate at her. Nibbling at her clit and licking around her labia.

She scrabbled at the robe, undoing it herself and holding it open. His hand skated up her body and locked around one of her breasts. She groaned as he clenched. Her hand knotted in his hair and her thighs pressed onto his head. Her heels pressing into his back. His other hand pushed between her legs and he sank two fingers inside her. He worked at her until she was dripping.

He lifted his head to talk. "Three now?"

"Ungh," she grunted.

He took that as a yes. He slid three fingers inside her; pumping them in and out of her saturated opening. She thrust her hips towards his questing hand. He held her thigh down with his other palm and lowered his face to her, closing his mouth over her swollen clitoris. She cried out; a wordless noise that ended in a low growl.

She clenched around his fingers and her body shivered as she came. He pulled his hand out and grabbed her around the arm. He pulled her up towards him. She shrugged out of the robe. He really did want to fuck her hard. He grabbed her head with both hands, pulling her face towards his. He kissed her deeply. Smearing her face with her own juices. She bit at him.

"Floor," he grunted. He grabbed her at the back of the neck and hauled her off the sofa. She sank down to sit on the floor. She looked up at him and he felt incredibly powerful.

"Turn," he commanded.

She immediately put her back to him. He pressed his groin into the back of her head, his hands reaching down to hold her breasts. He leaned over her; his hands reaching down her body and then dragging back up towards her face. He thought about getting her to give him a blow job, but he was more than ready to just fuck her. He gave her a push and she went down onto the floor on her hands and knees.

He dropped down behind her and held her body up against his. "Fuck," he growled at her. He stroked his hand through her folds. She was so wet. "Now?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Yes."

He grabbed her at the neck and pushed her face down. He steadied himself and found her opening. He worked his way into her. She was tight and she kept grabbing at him. He almost chuckled; she was still fighting him. He won that fight and sank into her to the hilt. They both paused; panting for breath. And then he started to move; dragging himself out of her and thrusting back in again. He started slow and built up the pace and the intensity. The harder he fucked her, the more firmly he held her. He had her face held down onto the floor. He thrust into her from behind. She cried out. The sound of them smacking together was particularly loud.

Paul let out a long, low growl.

Leah made a higher pitched yelp sound as he slammed into her.

They had both completely forgotten about Bella. When the noise had got loud enough for her to hear it in the bedroom, she had listened for a little while before getting the courage to leave the bed and go spy on them. She really did want to see them together.

She was not prepared at all for the demonstration of full on, hard sex that they were unwittingly giving her.

She was standing in the doorway. She could not take another step towards them. She had most of her body hidden behind the door frame as if what she was seeing was scary, but nonetheless, she still watched; unable to tear her eyes away from the sight.

Leah's ass was up in the air. Her spine bowed back at an angle that looked painful. Paul's hand was locked around the back of her neck and her face was turned to the side; her cheek pressed down onto the bare floorboards. His body was bowed over hers. His cock buried inside her as his hips thrust at a pace too fast to be human. Oddly, he was whispering into Leah's ear. Her face was turned away from Bella and neither of them had noticed her enter the room.

She could not hear what he was saying.

He whispered to Leah in low continuous stream, "I am going to have your ass, Leah. Would I be the first? You got my ass. It only seems fair that I return the favor. You want that? You want me to fuck you in the ass?"

She whimpered. Bella wanted to whimper with her. She knew that Leah could fight him if she wanted to and she had heard the earlier sounds that had told her that Leah was enjoying this.

"Oh yeah… I can tell you want it. It has got you very excited, but not today," he teased. He stopped talking suddenly and lifted his head. He sniffed and then glanced quickly towards the doorway where Bella stood.

Bella froze. The predator had scented her.

Her heart leapt into overdrive. Her arms were clutched across her body; hugging herself.

He stared at her. He kept fucking Leah at that inhuman pace, but it was Bella that his eyes were locked onto.

The thought that he could fuck her like that wormed its way into her brain. He had always been gentle with her. But this? This was dangerous and edgy. She felt so excited. Wanton and seriously turned on. The last thing she wanted was for him to stop fucking Leah like that. She didn't want him to hide it from her. She had to show him that she was okay with this and speaking seemed … wrong. As if it would break the spell somehow.

Her hand dropped down to between her legs. He watched her.

She lifted the dress she was still wearing and he saw that she was naked underneath.

He smiled. His tip of his tongue snaked out and licked his lips.

She inhaled sharply and never taking her eyes off them she started to stroke herself.

Paul lifted Leah's head by the hair and turned her face over to look towards Bella.

She made a noise when she saw her.

Bella's whole hand was held flat over her mound and she started to slide it between her legs. Her middle finger disappeared between her labia. Her other hand dragged her dress up and pinched her nipple.

Leah moaned.

Paul slowed his pace. He slid a hand under Leah's body and down to her clitoris. He knew she was not going to move now and he didn't need to hold her in place. He stroked her at the same speed as Bella was doing herself.

Leah whimpered again.

The sight of the two of them was too much for him, and he actually came first. He sank into Leah and stayed there as his cock twitched inside her, dumping its load.

Bella licked her lips. She knew what he was doing, she could see his ass muscles clenching and she was unaccountably excited by the thought that he was filling Leah as he watched her.

He kept stroking Leah and he saw her shoulders start to tremble. She shuddered and came.

He crooked a finger at Bella. She nearly ran to them.

He lifted at the dress and she got the hint and pulled it over her head to drop it on the floor. He put his arm around her hips and pulled her towards him. She smelt so excited and he didn't think she had orgasmed yet. Sunk inside Leah, he could feel his cock, still hard, inside her. He leaned his head down and tried to press his mouth to Bella's center. She grabbed at his head with her hand; pulling her body towards him. The hand behind her slipped into her from behind and she jolted at the shock. He was still too tall, even on his knees and it was too awkward to maintain the head angle without pulling out of Leah. He didn't want to do that. She was looking back over her shoulder at them and hadn't tried to move either. She seemed mesmerized.

He could lift Bella completely off the floor and up to his face, but he worried about her falling backwards.

He lifted his head and stared at Bella's face. On his knees he was almost her height. He kissed her. He slid his other hand in from the front. She was so wet. She opened her thighs and squatted down a little and he got an idea. His fingers were covered in Bella's juices. He slid the rear hand back a touch and pressed on the rosebud of her ass. She twitched and let out a moan. He just went for it; sank a finger on each hand inside both openings at the same time.

Bella wailed. She came so hard, she clutched at his shoulders; digging her nails into him, her legs collapsed and she fell on top of Leah. Paul grabbed her, lifted her with one arm and cuddled her in against his body. Her head rested on his shoulder. He had one arm around her and the other resting possessively on Leah's ass.

Fuck. This was heaven.

* * *

Paul eased himself out of Leah with a wince. She groaned and shivered a little, and then fell over onto her side.

He stroked his hand along her back. "I'll be back," he said to her.

She blinked slowly at him, but didn't move.

He carried Bella in and placed her carefully on the bed, right in the middle. Then he went back and picked up Leah. She let him carry her. He placed her face to face with Bella. Bella sat up and pulled up the sheet to cover them. Paul went back out to the main room and turned off all the lights.

A quick bathroom visit and then he tucked himself into the bed behind Bella. He had to throw her book out first.

Bella was stroking Leah's face. She seemed to be asleep. He listened carefully; yep, Leah was definitely sound asleep.

"She fell asleep mid sentence," Bella whispered.

"Worn out."

"From you?"

He chuckled. "Maybe. And the argument. She hates arguing."

"Why does she do it all the time, then?"

He assumed that was a rhetorical question and didn't answer. "She apologized."

"She did?"

He thought Bella should know that he had threatened to walk away. "I told her I was done. I said… I was going to leave."

"Oh." Bella shuffled around and rolled over to face him. She reached up and brushed her fingertips over his lips. He kissed them.

"I'm glad you didn't."

He smiled at her. She seemed okay given what she had just witnessed, but he needed to know. "Are you frightened of me, now?"

"No."

"Good."

"It wasn't me who didn't want to see you two; it was Leah."

"True. But I like Leah like that; hard and …" he searched for a word, "… feral."

"Wild and untamed?"

"Yeah."

"It suits her. It suits you."

Bella's face got a blank look as if her mind had wandered.

He watched her carefully. "What are you thinking about?"

"Condoms."

"Ah… okay."

"I am going to the doctor tomorrow."

"For?"

"Contraceptives."

Again, he thought about how Bella just did stuff, once she'd made up her mind. His inner wolf rolled over happily at the thought of two women with his scent all over them.

"I want to be naked with you, too," she whispered to him.

Holy shit. "I want that, too." The second he said it, he knew it was the truth. "There's also less chance of an accident," he suggested evenly. Inside he was doing cartwheels. He changed his earlier definition of heaven; maybe it was this instead. Two women with nothing between them.

Except him.


	36. Chapter 36

**chapter 36**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

"You're under the sheet," Bella pointed out.

"Not for long," Paul said.

"Are you leaving again?" Bella asked him.

"I probably should."

"In a little while?"

He really should leave, but he liked lying here and chatting to Bella. "I can stay for a little while."

"Okay."

"Do you have patrol?" She looked worried.

"Yeah." He worried about Bella worrying about the pack. "They all know. You know that?"

"I know. I'm waiting for … I don't know what I'm waiting for. I just feel like something is going to happen."

"An outburst?"

"Poor Jake," she said, as if she knew the most likely person to have an outburst was him.

"He's got a girl, now."

"See, even the fact that you know that and you never talk to him, weirds me out. And besides, do you think him having a girl will help him understand?"

"It should - if she means anything to him."

Bella sighed. "I just can't explain to him why I am not attracted to him. Not without insulting him, at any rate."

"I get that."

She gave him a look. "Oh, you do? Was there someone you had a crush on?"

She realized her mistake when Paul got an odd look on his face. She laughed. Frightened of waking Leah up, she clapped her own hand across her mouth.

Leah shifted and mumbled in her sleep.

Bella poked Paul in the side. "I get it. You weren't keen on someone. They had the crush on you."

"Okay, Miss Smarty Pants and stop poking me."

She giggled.

"Why aren't you tired?" he asked.

"I'm wide awake, aren't I?"

"Typical," he mumbled. "One goes to sleep and the other is wide awake."

"I thought it was supposed to be the guy who falls asleep after?"

He didn't answer that. He held his hand out to her and she placed hers against his palm. Their fingers interlaced. He stared at their hands. He wasn't sure that he had ever done this with a girl before; post coital chats were not big on Paul's lists of things to do. But from the first time he had sex with Bella, he had stuck around.

"It might never happen," she said.

He focused. "What might?"

"Whatever you're worrying about."

He smiled. He reached up and traced her eyebrows with a finger. They lay there and stared at each other silently until he had to go. He kissed her on the forehead. She rolled back over to cuddle Leah and to watch him leave.

* * *

Jared had known Paul for a long while, seeing as how they were all part of the early pack together; he, Sam and Paul. But he was much more conservative than Paul and they didn't think enough alike for Jared to really be his friend. Once Jared had imprinted on Kim, his world was completely perfect. He didn't understand why Paul was chasing around after two women. And two such troublesome women at that. He should just wait for his gods given imprint to show up. It had to happen one day, surely? Paul had been phased for ages. But two women? Yep. He was insane. One woman was enough trouble for Jared.

* * *

Quil and Embry were playing X-box.

"So you've heard about Paul fucking both girls?"

"Yep." Embry concentrated on the game. If Quil wanted to chat he might have a chance to beat him.

"But now it seems to be a semi permanent thing?"

"Semi permanent? Big word, Quil."

"Shut it, Embry."

They concentrated on the game for a minute, but Quil was not going to let it go. "So do you think when I thought I heard him round at their place weeks ago, that he was with Bella, then? Leah was at her Mom's place for once."

"Yep."

Quil snorted. "Two girls," he complained. "It's not fair!"

"Why is it not fair?" Embry asked.

"I mean that's just too much choice." He frowned. "That's like two vaginas plus four tits, plus- "

"**No, Quil**. Do NOT do the math. I get it."

"How can he manage all of that?"

"Well, clearly he can if they are still willing to do it with him."

"Pfft."

"And remember the girls like to be together, too," Embry pointed out.

"So you reckon they throw him out occasionally?"

"Probably."

"Or let him watch." Quil's eyes glazed over a little at the thought and Embry picked up a first aid kit in the game while he wasn't looking. "Goddammit! It's not fair."

Embry snorted. "Personally, I wouldn't want two women."

"Why not?" Clearly two women was high on Quil's dream list.

"Looking after one properly is hard enough. With two, you are highly likely to fuck it all up and lose them both. Stands to reason they'll side with each other against you in any argument."

"Especially if they were together first, and you are the new guy."

"Yep."

"Fuck it all up," Quil repeated, "Now **that** sounds like Paul."

"There's another issue that none of them have thought of so far, too."

"What?"

"Imprinting."

"Shit! With two wolves, it should be twice as likely."

"And they haven't imprinted on each other. Even after Paul and Leah fucked."

Quil looked suspicious. "And they did something weird. I know it. They both keep a damn tight lid on something about their first time. I've tried to worm in there… but, nope."

Silence for a minute.

"Holy shit!" Quil shouted.

"What?"

"Would he have talked her into it?"

"Into what?"

"Wolf sex. Do you think they had sex as wolves?"

"Dude." Embry looked horrified at the thought. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"Oh man… that is REALLY unfair. Even I didn't think of that one… fuck!"

"Even you?" Embry chuckled. "And we all know you are a freak, Quil."

"Fuck you, Embry."

"You thought of it first."

"So do you think they did?"

"Ask them," Embry casually suggested.

"You ask them."

"I'm not fucking asking them, either of them will hurt me."

"Are you scared of Leah?" Quil chortled.

"Damn right, I am," Embry said.

Quil thought about it. "Yeah… okay… that's fair."

* * *

Sam was worrying. Christ he would be glad when Jake took over as alpha. He really would. But Jake didn't want responsibility and Jake didn't want to have to make the tough decisions.

The only good thing to happen recently was that Paul had got a cell phone. Yay.

Paul was the big issue for him right now. He was back. Sam had sent him away to sort himself out and then in a stroke of brilliant timing, his mother had died and he had come running back to the girls.

Paul wasn't imprinted on either of them, so why them? He had ignored alpha orders. For fuck's sake, the pack was hard enough to run now, he couldn't imagine how hard it would be if he had wolves that literally ignored him. And Leah had told him to go fuck himself, too. He almost chuckled. Maybe that didn't mean anything, Leah **always** told him to go fuck himself.

He worried about her. She had seemed happy with Bella and Bella with her. So why was Paul in the mix?

In some ways, he wished the pack could all be like Quil. He was so overjoyed to phase. He thought it was the neatest thing out. He had generations of family history and pride to back him up and, because he had phased so late, he had been dying to get to it and join all his friends. Plus, Quil's innate joy in things made him a very happy wolf and very easy for everyone to get along with.

Embry had a tough time at the start, but he accepted it now. They were all good wolves in one way or another.

He understood Leah's issues. The wolf had cost her a lot. He got that. But she had grizzled and grumped and carried on like the bitch she now was, until everyone was sick of her and her never-ending complaints. He just felt guilty.

He had been unnerved when she and Bella started dating, but he supposed she had gone for the farthest thing away from him; a normal human and a she was a female too; a little girl.

So why Paul? How did he fit into Leah's world?

The only thing he had going for him was he was an arrogant domineering male wolf. He should have been the damn alpha, rather than Jake.

Hang on… **Fuck.**

* * *

Jacob Black thought that he was cursed. He had loved Bella Swan ever since they were little kids. It seemed like forever. She had turned him down, she had dated a vampire and then she had gone gay. He was okay with that - the gay bit, not the vampire. If she was gay, then it made perfect sense that she had never found him attractive and never wanted him.

But now?

She was fucking Paul Lahote. Who wasn't nearly as big and physically impressive as he was.

It was insulting.

He was around. If she had wanted to have sex with a guy, he would have offered - as if he hadn't already a dozen times. If that was what she needed.

But Paul? Why did she want to fuck Paul? He just didn't understand it.

And of course, in an epic instance of perfectly bad timing; he was dating. He, Jacob Black, had a girlfriend and could no longer offer to assist Bella with her male needs.

He was cursed.

By Bella Swan.

Cursed.

He had never thought that one small girl could wreak such damage on him. It was probably just as well that the Cullens had gone. Fuck knows what damage Bella would have done to him if they were still around.

"Jake?" The voice was female. "You can't sleep?"

"Sorry, honey."

He snugged her in closer to him and kissed the top of her head. "You go back to sleep."

She yawned.

Jake smiled. Right now, he had to stop thinking about Bella Swan. He had other things on his mind. Jacob Black had finally discovered sex. And wow. Just… wow. Now he knew what all the fuss was about. Seeing it in another wolf's head was really no comparison to doing it yourself.

So, he decided that whatever mess Bella Swan had managed to get herself into now, she would have to get herself out of it. He was done with rescuing damsels in distress. Well, at least, that particular damsel.

Unless, of course, there were vampires involved. That was just too much fun.

He sighed. He'd probably still worry about Bella. Cursed, he was cursed.

* * *

Collin and Brady were both very young and therefore, very naive. Having a look inside older, more grown up heads was not helping in the maturity department at all.

Brady was not happy. Leah had broken his arm.

"It's your own stupid fault," Collin told him.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" he wailed.

"You are just lucky that Paul was laughing too hard to hurt you, himself."

"Yeah… okay." Brady nodded agreement. "That would probably have hurt. He would have gone for my face, too."

"Jeez, Brady. You need to learn to think before you open your stupid mouth."

"It just came out! I couldn't stop it!" he wailed.

"She's the female of the pack, not the pack's female!"

"She fucked Sam," Brady argued, "and now she's doing Paul."

"IDIOT! Why would you ask her 'when she was going to fuck you?' Why would she fuck you? Look at you. You are the lowest in the pack order, even if she did do that and she most definitely does NOT."

"I know… I know… I'm an idiot." He went to make hand movement with his arm and winced. "Can you get me another cold towel?"

"Fine. But this is the last one."

"Thanks Collin."

* * *

Leah stomped up and down Paul's living room.

"Honestly!" she roared. "The stupid little fuckwit."

"I'm surprised you didn't tear his balls off," Paul commented.

"I should have! That would teach him." She glanced at Paul. "And you!" She pointed at him. "Thanks for defending me."

"You didn't need defending."

"You were laughing too hard to be of any use, anyway."

"It was priceless. The look on your face," he chortled.

She glared at him. "What would you have done?"

"The face. Definitely. I would have gone for the face. Brady thinks he's pretty."

"No! Not that kind of help. You are no use at all." She waved her arms around in frustration.

"You could have broken his nose," Paul suggested helpfully. "Then punched him again, in the same place, and pushed the bone shards into his brain and killed him."

"I don't want to kill him!"

"Well, sooorrry. You **said** you were going to kill him. Just before you broke his arm."

"Oh, shut up, Paul!"

"You want some stress release?"

"Sex?" she asked.

He nodded eagerly.

"How can you think about sex at a time like this?"

"Time like what? And I always think about sex."

"No! I am going home."

"Fine. Kiss Bella for me."

"Ugh!" She stomped out the door.

Paul grinned after her.

* * *

Lily was worried about her boyfriend. He had heard that some girl was having sex with a guy, called Paul and he was utterly shattered. "Jake? I don't understand… is this The Girl?" She knew Jake had some issue with unrequited love. Embry had mentioned it at their first date.

Jake nodded.

"You… l-love her?"

He glanced at her. "It's hard to explain. I thought I did, but…" He stopped talking.

"She's hurt you again, somehow."

He stared down. "Maybe."

"No maybe about it. Tell me," she encouraged. "Just tell me as if I was a stranger you met in a diner. Just let it out, Jake. It's making you sick."

He sighed. "I'll try," he whispered.

He sat silently and she waited patiently. She kept touching him, just little strokes of her hand to remind him that she was there for him.

"Our fathers are friends. I have known her since I was a little kid. Four, I think. She came to visit most holidays and every summer to stay with her dad. There was a gap for a while when she was a teen and then she moved here to live. She was turning eighteen and I was just sixteen. I thought she was beautiful and she didn't know it. She went to high school in Forks and she dated a guy who was… just wrong for her. I tried to save her…"

Lily frowned. Save?

Jake continued, "…but she just got annoyed with me. He dumped her and left town. I was so happy, but she fell apart. She would tell me that she liked me, more than all her other friends, but I kissed her once and she punched me. She would spend time with me, hold my hand, tell me she loved me but then she moved on…"

He took a deep breath.

"…with a friend of mine."

Lily winced.

"Another girl."

Lily hissed. "Ouch."

"Right. So I pretend that it doesn't matter, but it did, you know? Then one day, I finally get it. She's good; they both are. She's everything I wanted her to be: she's alive, happy, and still in my life. So, I let her go."

Alive? Jeez, this girl must be the super emotional suicide-threatening type. "And then?" prompted Lily.

"And then I hear that she is having sex with a guy; he's not a friend, but I know him well. He's wrong for her, too. She's still living with the first girl and it all just seems so wrong for her. He's not a nice guy, Lily. He's going to dump her and leave her destroyed just like the last one. If her first relationship with the girl even survives having him in the mix."

"So it's just sex?"

"I don't know… maybe."

Lily nodded. "So you and boy A offered her commitment and love and she just wants sex from boy C?"

"I suppose." Jake frowned.

"So she's experimenting. She's Ann Heche," she declared.

"Who?"

"Ellen deGeneres' lover who left her for another man and then got married to him. She's happy, but she is making boy B sad."

"Yeah, but I thought she loved Ellen. To use your example."

"Jake, honestly, the girl sounds like a complete train wreck who doesn't see the best thing in front of her. You tried, now you really have to let her go. She's an adult. This is her life and she is fucking it up all on her own. She doesn't want to be saved by boy B."

"She didn't want it back then, she really doesn't want me interfering now. She's been with **two** other people, rather than me." He paused. "Wait a second, why am I boy B? Why can't I be boy A?"

"Easy. B is better. It stands for Big… Beautiful-"

"Burly."

"Built."

He chuckled. It sounded strained, but it was a laugh.

"I repeat… she was an idiot to not see you."

"Thanks Lily. I feel better."

"I could really make you feel better."

"Yeah?"


	37. Chapter 37

**chapter 37**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

After discussion with her doctor, Bella decided to use a progesterone IUD. It was as effective as the pill but she didn't need to remember to take it every day at about the same time. She had to go without sex for 48 hours after it was put in. It was a little expensive but would last for more than five years maybe up to ten and, as an extra bonus, after a little while she might not get any periods too.

Leah was half pleased because it didn't affect her scent as much. The wolves could tell who took medication or drugs just from their body odor. She was also half displeased because it meant that Bella was going to be having sex with Paul. And she'd smell like him; as if she didn't enough already. Now, Paul would be happily leaving his jizz all up inside Bella, too. She felt a small amount annoyed that the special thing she and Paul had together was now shared with Bella as well.

And then, she got more annoyed with herself for thinking like that. That must be the thoughts of her stupid wolf who clearly wanted Paul all to herself. Tough break, bitch. You have to share him with Bella.

_Yeah. And you have to share Bella with him._

Fuck!

* * *

They settled into a routine. Because Paul didn't live with them, as he had promised, sex needed to be almost scheduled for the three of them to be involved. Paul and Leah could have a quickie in the forest. Bella and Leah could do it anytime, as they slept together and if Bella wanted to see Paul she had to go to his house or ask him over to theirs. Paul did come over frequently and Bella loved feeding him and having him around. It pleased her to see the three of them eat together. If the three of them did have sex in the girls' bed, Paul didn't sleep the night. He was careful to leave after-wards.

One day when Paul was over, he asked the girls where they wanted their fire-pit. Bella got quite interested in whether it would have a spit roast or flat grill plate. She and Paul, as the two cooks, discussed it all and checked with Leah what she wanted. It would take a little while to build. Paul said he could get some reject or previously used bricks from the building sites.

"Hey, you could hold pack functions, here," Paul suggested. "We haven't had one for ages."

"No," said Bella, "Emily's baby is due any day now."

"She might prefer to hold them back at her place, once the baby arrives. Easier to let it sleep in its own bed," suggested Leah.

Bella felt guilty about not helping Emily the way she used to. "You should go see her," she said to Leah.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Paul watched them carefully.

"She's your cousin."

"So?"

"Leah," Bella chided.

"We are not having this discussion." She stomped off inside.

Bella sighed and Paul patted her on the arm. "She'll get there."

"She misses her. I know she does."

* * *

Sam was really worried about the pack. It seemed to be disjointed and fractured. He didn't know what was wrong. He was talking to Emily about it when she gave him one of her 'duh' looks.

"What?" he asked.

"Sam it's really obvious. Imagine they were a football team. They have trained all year, beaten all their opponents and now?" she prompted.

"Oh, they have no one to play against."

"Exactly. So the team is falling apart."

"No enemies. They're bored."

"Maybe."

"I don't want to encourage vampires to visit, to give them something to hunt. Hang out a ' La Push welcomes vampires' sign."

"No, of course not. But maybe they need to do more pack things? Train, fight, play football against each other or something that allows them to be active."

"Have races against each other. First to the top of Mount Ranier."

Emily chuckled. "Without blowing the pack secret."

Sam looked as his imprint. Emily looked about to burst. She was due any day now. "You haven't been cooking for the pack since you can barely cook for the two of us, so the usual frequent pack barbecues have fallen off, too." And Bella had been helping her, but she had disappeared. Probably had less time on her hands with two lovers.

"I can't do it… obviously," Emily said, "but someone else might be able to."

"Should I ask Bella?" Sam checked.

"Who else can cook? Kim wouldn't handle it, and there aren't any other imprints. Jake and Embry have girlfriends but they don't know about the pack, yet." She shifted in her chair as she tried to get comfortable. "Paul can cook, too. There you go," she said, "Paul and Bella can do it."

* * *

Sam had asked Paul to train the new wolves and they both pretty much deferred to him and Leah now. Almost more than they did to him. He remembered his thought about Leah being an alpha female and he wondered if that had anything to do with the detachment of the pack. But right now, he had heard about Leah breaking Brady's arm and he needed to talk to her about that. It seemed over the top, even for Leah.

He asked her to meet him.

"You broke Brady's arm?" No point in beating around the bush with Leah.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He asked me when it was his turn."

"Turn?" Sam asked.

"To be with the pack female."

"In what sense?" Sam asked, with fading hope that it wasn't the offensive kind.

"To fuck him."

Sam put his hand over his eyes. "He said that?"

"More or less. I was furious. It was rude and disrespectful."

"I agree."

"He thought that if I used to fuck you and now I fuck Paul, then at some point it must be his turn."

"He's fourteen."

"Brain of a fourteen year old with the body of twenty five year old. And a head full of Jared and you and Embry and …" she paused, "others fucking."

She didn't say Paul, Sam noticed.

"Shit." Sam sighed. "I am sorry he said that to you. That was seriously out of line." He was horrified that Brady had said it to any woman, let alone Leah. Leah was still angry about it; he could tell.

"I'm the pack female. The ONLY female. They ought to fucking kiss my feet."

"I'd kiss your feet," Paul said.

"Shut up, Paul," said Leah.

"Why are you here?" asked Sam.

"He can be wherever he wants to be," Leah defended him and then looked annoyed that she had.

Paul gave Sam a 'so there' look.

Sam rolled his eyes. He pointed at Leah. "Don't break any more arms."

She got a sly look on her face.

"Or legs," Sam added, "or any other limbs. And definitely no damage to dicks."

Now it was Leah who rolled her eyes.

"Are we clear?" Sam asked.

"We're clear."

Sam gave them both a final serious look and then strode away.

"You can damage my dick, Leah," Paul told her.

"Shut up or I will."

"Over fucking might do it."

She sighed.

He stroked her arm carefully. "We should go back to your place," he suggested quietly.

"Why?"

"Bella's forty eight hours are up. Aren't they?"

"She can fuck."

"Yep.

"You been counting the hours?"

"Yep."

"Typical."

"Did you want a quick tumble in the forest before we get home?" Paul asked her.

Leah noticed the 'home' - it wasn't his home. He had his own. She was certain he hadn't said that before. "No thanks."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

He grabbed her and spun her until her back hit a tree.

She growled at him.

He pressed his face in against her neck. The rest of his body followed, pressing along the line of hers. She relaxed a little and breathed into his body.

"Come on, Leah. Relax. Sam was just trying to be the alpha. You know it's a shitty job."

"Maybe, but I hate him sticking his nose in my business."

"Brady is pack business."

She sighed. "I know."

He let her go; stepping back from her.

When she moved away from him, he grabbed her at the neck. "You sure?"

She felt that spike of excitement that she got when he went dominant on her. But it also scared her a little. She feared the loss of control. Not here; not in the forest. "Bella," she said to remind him.

"Ooh, yeah," he said, momentarily distracted.

They raced each other back to the house. Leah won.

By then, she had loosened up, She was laughing as she pelted in the back door. Paul was close behind her and almost literally snapping at her heels.

Bella looked up from the book she was reading and blinked at them as if she was still caught in her fictional world. She was leaning on the arm of the sofa with her feet curled up underneath her.

"Hey, beautiful," Leah said to her.

"Well, hello, you two."

"Paul wants me to damage his dick," Leah said.

"Only through over-fucking," he clarified. He grinned at Bella.

Bella chuckled. "I suppose we could give it the good old college try."

"We can now, eh?" Paul dropped to his knees in front of her and put his head down right on top of the open page of her book.

"Are you a wolf or a cat?" she asked him.

"Stroke me, baby, and I'll purr," he crooned.

She chuckled, but she put her hand on his head and brushed her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes exactly like a cat would.

"You smell nice," he said.

"I was just in the bath and thus, the yoga pants."

"You do yoga?"

"No, just wear the pants."

"How was work?" he asked her.

"Mrs Newton was in a fit about the new labor laws."

Bella kept stroking his scalp; pressing down, tucking his hair behind his exposed ear. "How was your day?"

"Sam spent ages trying to convince the owner that she couldn't move the bathroom to the other side of the house without a huge increase in the cost of the job. It was not part of the quote we gave."

"The pipes are already laid."

"Yeah. See! You get that. She's a silly cow."

Leah thought they looked so cosy together. Domestic. That was how they looked.

Bella glanced up at her. "How was your day?"

Leah shrugged. "George is the same. Work was the same. Filled a few tanks. Washed a few windshields."

"Okay," said Bella. 'Is he asleep?' she mouthed at Leah. Paul's eyes were still closed.

Leah snorted. "He was counting the hours until he could tumble you into bed."

"Who said it was bed," Paul put in, "Might do it here on the floor."

"I'll bruise," Bella suggested.

"We'll put Leah on the bottom this time."

They both looked at Leah. She smiled.

Paul lifted his head, stripped his shirt off and lowered his head back down. Bella couldn't resist, she stroked her hand through his hair and down the muscles of his back. He did almost purr.

"Come on, Leah," he crooned.

She didn't answer him but just started stripping. Naked now, she stepped over towards them, leaned down, grabbed Bella under the chin and tilted Bella's face up to hers. Paul's hand stroked up the back of Leah's leg. He lifted his head and watched the girls kiss.

He rolled back onto his feet and rose from his crouching position to stand. When Leah straightened up again, Paul was waiting. He captured her lips with his. Bella watched them.

They turned their heads towards her and both looked down at her where she sat. It made her gasp a little. They reached for her at the same time; virtually lifting her off the couch to stand between them. They started undressing her between them.

"Are we really going to do it here?" she asked breathlessly, as their heated hands found their way under her clothes and her clothes found their way to the floor.

"Uh, huh," said Paul, kissing down her neck.

"Ah," she sighed. She loved when he kissed down her neck.

Leah's hands closed around her breasts. Bella leaned forward and kissed her. "Love you," she whispered to her.

Leah felt comforted by that. She didn't say it to Paul; she had never said it to Paul.

Paul didn't seem to care.

Bella felt amazing. Leah's hands on her breasts. She felt warm in body and spirit sandwiched between two superheated bodies. She reached for Leah's head, tangling her fingers in her hair, pulling her face towards her. Kissing her avidly.

Paul's hands stroked down her back, snagging her yoga pants. He pulled them down towards the floor and followed them down with a trail of kisses. He placed a kiss on the sensitive skin on the back of her knee. That made her shiver. Leah's tongue was in her mouth. Paul lifted her feet out of the pant legs and kissed his way back up. She could feel his nose as it tracked along her flesh. He nipped her butt cheek and she squeaked.

He must have slipped his own pants off, because as he returned to standing she could feel him pressing against her. He grabbed her hips and ground her ass cheeks against him. She moaned into Leah's mouth.

He nibbled along her shoulder and when he reached the end his face lifted. Leah's arm reached out and grabbed him. She hauled him over to her. The two of them kissed and mashed Bella between them. She wanted to hold them both. She had one arm around Leah's waist and the other reaching back for Paul. She stroked her hand down his lower back and across his ass. She tried to scratch him.

"Mark me," he said to her.

Leah pulled her head back suddenly.

"I didn't mean like that," Paul said. "Nails… you know, I like nails."

"Uh, huh."

Bella did not know what was going on or what marks they were talking about.

Paul's hands slid over her hips and down to the inside of her thighs and he just picked her up. Lifting her under her thighs and opening her out for Leah, who sank to her knees and buried her face between Bella's legs.

Bella grabbed at Paul's arms for stability but with her back held solidly against his chest she was not going to overbalance. The pressure of his fingers on her thighs felt like a brand. She would probably sport the bruises for days. She was immobilized; couldn't shift or even wriggle.

"Huh," said Paul, "She likes that." His face back in against her neck; his breath gusting across her flesh.

"Yes, she does," Leah agreed. "But put her down or she'll bruise."

Paul placed her back down on her feet, but her legs couldn't support her. She fell forwards onto her hands and knees. Leah scooted in under her as she fell.

"Good girl," Paul said. He dropped down behind her. His hand stroked through her folds. "So wet. I don't need to ask if you're ready."

She answered him anyway, "Please," she begged.

She felt the blunt head of his cock pushing at her opening. He made a couple of shoving pushes and then the head sank inside her.

"Oh, Christ," Paul groaned, "that feels good."

It did feel different. He felt hotter, too. "Hot," Bella muttered.

He grabbed her at her hips and shoved into her.

Bella was overwhelmed. Her hair tangled and fell across her face. Her mouth open and panting as she strained to breathe. Leah nibbled at her neck. Paul thrust into her. She was sweating and moaning between them as they took her right to the edge and threw her off it.

It was Leah's hand reaching down and stroking her as Paul fucked her that tipped her over. "L-Leah," she cried out. She could feel Leah's thighs pressing against her thighs, just under Paul's hands. Their breasts rubbing together. Her body shunted forward as Paul pushed her forward and into Leah in little rhythmic jolts. He grunted as he did it. It sounded animalistic and exciting to her. She was reminded of watching him and Leah go for it on the floor here.

But now they were both with her.

It was that thought that blew her mind.

Paul let out a growl as he filled her; his wolf loved looking down possessively on both women. Still buried inside Bella he managed to squeeze a hand between the girls. Leah moved her arm and let him in. He wanted to make sure that Leah was looked after as well. Bella lay panting and gasping on top of Leah's body as Paul stroked her to orgasm.

Bella kissed her as Leah orgasmed and they all fell into a sweaty heap of limbs on the floor.


	38. Chapter 38

**chapter 38**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Seth watched Bella in the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Pre cooking as much as I can before the pack function tomorrow. If I do cakes now, I can ice them later."

"It's going to be held here?"

"Yes. Sam asked if I'd mind. I think it's a wonderful idea."

"Oh, okay. Do you need any help?"

"No, it's okay, Paul will be here in a minute."

"Right." That deflated Seth's previous good mood.

"Paul built a great fire-pit, so we can cook outside and everything," she chattered on, not noticing Seth's change of mood.

"Good."

That was churlishly short for Seth. She glanced up at him. "Seth?"

"I need to go," he said. He left hurriedly, before Paul got there. He irked him now; as wolf and man. He couldn't fight him but he was careful to just stay out of his way.

Bella sighed after Seth had left. She knew he blamed Paul for everything that had happened. But she thought that it was working out okay. They all seemed to be really getting on.

* * *

Paul bounced in the door, arms full of groceries and sniffed. "Seth?"

"Yes."

"What did HE want?"

Bella was tired of all this grumbling; it made her worry. "You can just stop that!" she reprimanded him. "He's my friend, and Leah's brother. He can visit our house any time he wants."

"Fine," he grunted, but he backed down. "Feisty Bella," he said. He placed all the groceries on the kitchen table. Came over to give her a hug. She sidestepped him. He poked her in the side and she smacked him with the wooden spoon. He wrestled it out of her hand and hugged her anyway.

She laughed and hugged him back.

"Where's Leah?" she asked.

"Dropped in to her mom's for something."

She passed him an apron.

He lifted an eyebrow. "I am a fast healing werewolf."

"Don't care. Put your apron on."

"Can I be naked underneath it?"

"No."

"Later?"

"Maybe."

"Woo hoo."

He put the apron on. It gained something in the look over his bare chest. She kept checking him out and he knew it. They worked very well together in the kitchen. Bella was so pleased to have someone to help her.

When Leah arrived they looked happy and companionable and domestic… again.

* * *

The pack party was in full swing. Jared and Kim were there. Kim had brought some jello for dessert. Jake, Embry and Quil were discussing physical challenges. Sam had suggested that they organize some wolf sports, and they were considering tree climbing.

"Don't let Nikiti Lahote hear you say that. Damage to the forest and all that," said Embry.

"We can't play soccer on the beach; people might see us," said Quil.

"What about swimming?" Jake suggested.

Quil looked doubtful.

Brady and Collin hung together and tried to stay out of Leah's way. She was trying to rig up some speakers for music. Paul went to help her before she broke something.

"Where's Sam?" asked Bella.

"Emily went into labor. He's taken her in to the medical center," Embry answered.

"Oh, how exciting."

Seth sat quietly on his own and watched his sister with concern. She reeked of Paul; the whole house did. It made Seth's nose twitch. He knew Paul was pleased with himself for having both girls. Seth didn't like it. He had said that he thought Paul would hurt them and he couldn't put his finger on it, but Leah was not one hundred percent into it. She seemed almost torn about it. Divided.

He could tell that she was really stressed.

Seth watched Paul and Bella together and he worried that Leah was letting Paul into their life for Bella. She and Paul got on so well that she was happy; or she seemed it. He had tried to talk to Bella about it but he was uncharacteristically taciturn. He couldn't seem to get any words out; at least not the ones that would explain what he was worried about. How could he say that Leah wasn't Leah? And why didn't Bella see it?

Bella saw _him _worrying, though. She came and sat next to him.

"What's the matter?" she asked him.

He shrugged.

"Oh Seth, I know you are worried but it's not like that when the three of us are together. It feels really right to me."

"Right," he said skeptically.

"No it's amazing. Oh, I shouldn't have said that."

Seth's face looked disgusted.

"Sorry. Too much information," Bella apologized. "Leah was uneasy about it to start but I think she is okay now. It was just hard for her to share."

"Not hard for you."

Bella looked taken aback and then guilty. "No."

Seth stared at her. "Promise me."

"What?"

"If you have to choose one…" He paused. "Promise me it'll be Leah."

"Seth…"

"Promise, Bella. It would kill her to lose you. She can't go through that again."

He looked so intense, so serious. And Bella knew in her heart that he was right. She heard an echo of her own when she had said almost the same thing to Paul at the building site. "I promise. That's easy to say, Seth, it would kill me too to lose her."

Seth suspected that she might recover after she got the kiss of life from Paul. But he didn't say it. He nodded once. "Good."

* * *

Quil and Embry were watching the trio as well.

"Look at them, Em, they look good together." Quil kept his voice low.

"Yeah. They look good. Doesn't mean they are."

"You don't sound convinced."

"Look at Leah, Quil."

Quil watched her for a while. Paul and Bella interacted brilliantly. They were both cooking and fussing about the food. Paul looked almost domestic. And Leah looked… lost.

"She looks about to break."

"Yep."

Quil's eyes narrowed. "Shit!"

"We are all on her turf, too. She's got nowhere to run or hide."

"Is it the party or the threesome thing that's freaking her out?"

"I can't tell."

"Is she doing this for Bella?"

"I dunno."

"She fucks Paul we know that."

"Yeah. So?"

"If she didn't enjoy it, you'd think she'd say 'no' or get rid of him or punch him in the head or whatever."

"Maybe parts of her like it?" said Embry.

"Huh?"

"Wolf versus human."

"Fuck. I hope not. She doesn't like her wolf."

"Christ, Quil, isn't that the problem?"

Bella approached them.

They both plastered smiles on for her benefit.

"You guys had enough to eat?"

"Yes, thanks Bella. It was awesome," Said Quil.

"Delicious," said Embry. "Emily has competition."

"Emily. Any news?"

"Not yet, but Sam will let us know."

"Where's your girlfriend, Embry?"

"Kaity? She can't come to these things, she's not an imprint."

"Jake can't bring Lily, either," said Quil.

"Oh, I am not an imprint either."

"Yeah," said Quil, "But you know the secret and you get a pass for living with a wolf, or two."

"I hadn't thought about that."

"Besides I am trying to cool it with Kaity; back off a little."

"Why? She seemed nice. I thought you liked her."

"I do. I love her."

Embry said it so simply, Bella believed him. "I don't understand."

"Imprinting, Bella," said Quil.

"Oh, my God." She stood there and tried to think about it. "So… you'd break up with her?"

"If I imprint on someone… I mean, if it was going to happen by now with her, it should have, so she's not The One. Do I waste her time and dump her when it happens and break her heart then, or do I let her go now?"

"But what about you?" Bella asked. She was holding her hands together nervously.

"I want what's best for her."

Quil added, "We all have to worry about shit like that. Could happen any time; any where or any when."

"Any when is not a word," Quil.

"It so is."

"Not. It means the same as anytime."

"So it **is** a word, then."

Bella wasn't listening. Two wolves. She had two wolves in her life. She had promised Seth that she'd choose Leah, but what if they didn't choose her? What if they imprinted? Could she let them go? If that was what made them happy?

She was about to have a full blown panic attack when Jared's head lifted. "Sam's coming." He had the best hearing in the pack.

It took some time for Sam to come barreling around the side of the house.

"It's a boy!" Sam crowed.

The pack all hooted and hollered.

Bella got herself under control. "Yay," she said. "Are they both okay?"

"Yeah. Emily was amazing. He's so cute."

"Can we all go see him?" Collin asked.

"Emily isn't up to visitors yet."

The pack wanted to scent the baby and make sure he was part of their pack. But Emily just wanted the baby to herself for a little while. Sam would give her that, after holding her hand in the labor. He had never been so terrified in his life.

"What's his name?" Leah asked.

"Nathan."

"Awesome. Nathan Uley."

"Well, come on, where are the photos?" Quil asked.

Bella went inside and washed her face at the sink. She felt like fainting. Why had she never thought about imprinting before? Did that mean that they didn't love her as much as Embry loved Kaity? She told herself off for that thought. She had to shut that down or she would worry herself to death about it.

Paul had been a wolf for longer than Leah. And so far, only Sam and Jared had imprinted. In a pack of ten, that wasn't a lot. Only one out of five. She could take those odds.

She stared out the window, searching for her wolves. Paul had his arm around Leah's shoulders. She looked tense. Her ex lover and her cousin had just had a baby together; the one thing Leah thought that she could never have. And she had lost Sam to imprinting.

And instead of being there to hold her hand, Bella Swan was having a hissy fit in the kitchen.

She shook herself.

She rifled around in the kitchen drawer and found a cake candle. She plonked it down in the center of one of her iced cakes and lit it. She took a deep breath and lifted the plate to walk outside.

The pack sang happy birthday to Nathan Uley.

She stood next to Leah and held her hand and Paul kept his arm around her, too.

That night, after Paul had gone home, Leah held her very tight.


	39. Chapter 39

**chapter 39**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

A few days passed. Bella still worried about imprinting but she wasn't sure what to do about it, other than worry. It was completely up to fate and she and fate had a pretty rough relationship. She didn't want to mention her fear to Leah and remind her of the whole Emily and Sam history. Maybe she could talk to Paul about it? But then she'd be discussing things with him more than with Leah.

She thought about asking Jake, but he had kind of avoided her at the function at their place. Leah seemed a little better after the pack party and Bella put her behavior on the night down to the birth of the baby. Paul seemed the same, as always.

One evening Bella went to Paul's place in a rush. She came pelting in the door and then stopped suddenly. The sudden thought that he might have a guest had occurred to her. She tried to back out again. But, of course, he heard her.

"What's up?" He stood up from the sofa. He was watching sports by the sound of it, she could hear the commentator's voice.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't be here."

He looked at her as he walked towards her. She looked agitated and upset about something. Her face was flushed. Her heart beating rapidly. He eyed her up and down and then he got a whiff of her. Oh, ho. So it was like that. She was excited. His voice dropped to a deeper register. "What **are** you doing here?" He took another step towards her.

She looked around rapidly. "There's no one here?"

"Just you and… me." He stepped carefully, closer towards her. "Something you wanted?"

She looked unsure. She shook her head, but said, "Yes." She whispered it.

He chuckled. "You wanted… me?"

She didn't answer him. She was holding her own hands nervously.

"Come here, Bella."

She took a step towards him, but didn't speak.

"Nice. What's caused this?" She didn't usually initiate sex, even if she never turned him down.

"I shouldn't be here… but I was reading something… and… I got kind of excited… I didn't think you'd say 'no'." At the thought that he was saying 'no', she turned to leave. She darted for the door, and he had to move fast to catch her before she got there. He grabbed her around the upper arm.

"Hold up there, girl. I'm not saying 'no' and you smell too damn good to leave now."

He pushed her up against the door.

She made a small wounded noise that just turned him on big time. "I love it when you do that," he whispered to her.

"I should probably go-"

He stopped her words with a kiss.

She started tearing at his clothes; trying to get him out of them. Her hands dove down the front of his pants. He chuckled again.

"Now what are you going to do with that?" he asked her, as her hand closed around him.

She dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth.

He really hadn't expected that. "Fuck, Bella."

She kept going.

"Oh, man," he said. "What have you been reading? Oh, fuck." He held her head with one hand, the other was planted flat against the door. "Okay… I get it," he said, after a while. "Leah doesn't have a dick."

He looked down at her. She had never tried this before and she was doing pretty well. What she lacked in technique, she made up for in enthusiasm.

He rocked forward and she made a small, hurt noise. Fuck! That got to him. He had to get himself under control; it was Leah who could take the hurt, not Bella. This one, he had to be super careful with. Her mouth was stretched around him. "Don't try to swallow," he advised. "Just breathe…" Another gentle rock forward. "Oh, yeah. Just like that."

Christ if he didn't get himself under control, he was going to come in her mouth and he didn't think she was up for that.

"Bella?" he said, low voiced and growly, the way he knew she liked it.

She glanced up at him. Fuck, he nearly lost it.

"I want you. Now!" He pulled back; dragging himself out of her mouth. He helped her to stand and then his hands were under her skirt, pulling at her panties.

"Quick," she begged.

He lifted her, held her against the door with one arm. Her arm went around his neck. He held his cock in the other hand and pushed at her opening. "Jeez, you're tight." He had to work his way in.

She uttered little cries. "Oh, oh, oh." Then a longer, "Ooh" when he hit the spot. "Oh, yes." She moaned.

He plunged into her now. Next time he hoped that she'd finish him by mouth. Clearly she needed a lot of practice and he was happy to oblige.

They made it to the bed for round two. Thank Christ, she'd gone onto contraceptives; he much preferred bareback.

* * *

"So what were you doing to get yourself all excited? Watching porn?" he asked her. They were lying in bed together. Bella was using his shoulder as a pillow.

"Ewww. No. That doesn't do it for me."

"Uh, huh."

"I was reading. I told you that."

"Right." He sounded skeptical.

"The biggest sex organ is the brain, you know."

He laughed.

"No. It is!" she argued.

"I'm not disagreeing, it just sounds funny." He studied her. "Should we call Leah to join us?"

"She's got an extra shift at the garage."

Sneaky girl. She knew Leah wouldn't be available. Wanted him to herself, huh? He almost purred. His hand stroked up and down her back, from ass to shoulder.

"Paul?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you about when you and Leah were together the first time?"

Paul tried to remember what Bella knew about that. He had told her that Leah wanted to be the guy, but given her naivety he wasn't sure what she understood by that. "She didn't tell you what we did?"

"No."

"Huh." He paused. "You sure you want to know?"

"Yes." She paused now. "It excites me," she confessed.

"Oh, does it now?" He moved so that he could see her face. She was blushing, of course.

"Yes. After I have seen you two have sex… you know… properly… I kind of imagine what the two of you would look like when you were doing that. How it would look."

"With your big brain," he quipped. Properly? Damn right, it was. Leah held down on the floor with her ass up in the air and his cock buried inside her.

"Oh, shut up!"

He laughed. "I'll tell you," he offered. "If it excites you, that can only be good for me. Right?"

She chuckled. "Your brain is pretty big, too, you know."

"You didn't come here for my brain."

"No."

Silence.

"Paul? So…" She prompted.

He rolled her onto her back and settled himself between her thighs; shuffling down the bed so that their faces were level. He held his upper body up on his elbows.

"Once upon a time," he started, "There was a big, bad wolf girl."

"You're being silly," Bella chided.

"Awww. Come on. Let me tell my story." He paused. "Are you going to listen?"

"Fine," she huffed. "But it sounds like a kids' story. You can't have sex in a kids' story."

"Fairy tales are always about sex."

"Huh." She frowned. "Okay. Maybe you have a point there."

"Big, bad wolf girl went to the house of…" He was thinking. "Cute assed wolf boy."

Bella made a face. "That's fair. You do have a nice ass."

"Will you let me tell it?"

"Sorry."

"Right… because Big, bad wolf girl asked Cute assed wolf boy to-" He kissed Bella quickly.

"Look after her girlfriend?" she suggested.

He frowned at her.

She mouthed 'sorry' this time.

He continued, "Cute assed wolf boy said 'yes'. The beautiful Belle would be his for one night only, and in return, he asked to be with Big, bad wolf girl. But she was greedy."

"Sure, sure," said Bella skeptically.

"Big, bad wolf girl wanted something else from Cute assed wolf boy. She wanted-" He leaned down and kissed Bella's ear. And then he whispered to her, "His cute ass. She liked his ass so much that she kissed it."

"Oh," she said. Then, "OH," when she comprehended what he meant. She looked at him. "She did that?"

"Yep and then she put on a harness and fitted the dildo in the front-"

"And you let Leah fuck you?" Bella interrupted.

"Yeah."

"Did it hurt?"

He made a face. "It was actually not too bad. I am not going to let a guy do that to me, but I'm okay with Leah doing it. She made it worth my while."

"And Leah?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, but she got very excited by it. Big, bad wolf girl wanted to bite poor little Cute assed wolf boy, he just knew it." He put on his best puppy dog impression and wobbled his bottom lip.

"Poor Cute assed wolf boy," she consoled him. "It's okay, now."

"I know," he breathed at her. "And beautiful Belle is still here. And now she is imagining that scene. Big, bad wolf girl behind Cute assed wolf boy with a seven inch strap on and heaps of lube."

Bella's eyes glazed over and she made a small sighing noise.

Paul smiled.

He flipped her over suddenly. He pressed his chest against her back and slid his hand underneath her and his fingers into her saturated opening; already wet from a mixture of them both. She groaned. He worked his fingers back and pressed over her puckered rosebud. "Right here," he whispered to her.

She twitched.

"You enjoyed it before," he suggested.

"I d-did… but I don't want-"

He cut her off. "Just fingers, I promise. Come on, I'll look after you," he crooned. "You know I will."

"O-okay." She was clinging hard to his arm; her fingers digging in.

"And I haven't finished the story," he suggested to distract her. He worked his fingers inside her and over her clitoris until her hands relaxed a little and she let go. "Atta girl," he murmured. His hand returned to her ass. He very gently pushed one finger inside.

Her breath caught in her throat.

"She did it just like that," he hummed. "Then… Big, bad wolf girl lubed up the dildo and she carefully slid it inside Cute assed wolf boy." He was in to the second joint. He worked it in and out carefully. He snagged the lube from his side table.

She squeaked as he applied it.

"Cold, huh?"

Another squeak and a squirm. "Yes, cold."

"Then Cute assed wolf boy started to enjoy it, and soon Big, bad wolf girl was sunk into him all the way inside and he didn't mind at all. And then she fucked him. She did it hard, just the way he likes it."

Bella moaned.

"Big, bad wolf girl made sure that Cute assed wolf boy's 'brain' was looked after, too." He was up on his knees now and he lifted Bella's hips up a little. "She put her hand around to grab him and she slid it up and down his cock. She made sure that he was very happy." He leaned forward and held his mouth close to Bella's ear. "She doesn't do this to you?" he asked, as he scissored his fingers in her ass. She clenched at him.

A head shake for an answer.

He was surprised.

"Do you want to try?"

"No. I-I don't think I can."

"That's okay. But now you've gone and got Cute assed wolf boy all excited, so he really needs to fuck the beautiful Belle now." He lifted her under the thighs and hauled her up into his lap. She was still face down on the bed. "Pity, such a cute ass." He hoisted her up and plunged inside her in a solid thrust.

She cried out. He held her at the sides and shifted her onto him; sliding her whole body back and forth. She made unintelligible grunts when he slapped into her. When she reached the begging stage, he shifted to lifting into her. After a few thrusting strokes, he sank his thumb into her ass and she just fell apart.

He rolled onto his back, taking her with him. She lay, panting with her back against his chest. His tanned arm around her chest, the fingers of one hand playing with her nipple. "Did you enjoy story time?" he asked her.

"Yes. It's amazing what you do with your brain, Paul."

He laughed.

* * *

A couple of days later, Bella walked across the room. There was a thud noise followed by a "Holy Crow!"

Leah sighed. "Tell me you did not just walk into the corner of the table … again?"

"It's moved."

"It has not."

"Ouch." Bella rubbed at her thigh. "Well, at least you could be sympathetic."

"I'm sorry you banged your… what did you bang?" Leah wasn't actually looking at her.

"Thigh."

"Ooh. Your thigh." She looked up now; an eager look on her face. "I _promise_ to kiss it better for you."

Bella smiled at her. "When?" she prompted.

"Later."

"Humph. Wish I was a fast healing werewolf, then I wouldn't be covered in bruises all the time," Bella grizzled.

Later that night, Leah was lying back against the pillows, watching Bella undress. She noticed another bruise on Bella's body. She sat up and moved to sit on the edge of the mattress. "Come here."

Bella shifted closer to her.

She touched the bruise. It was right on her hip and had a single mark at the back and some smaller marks at the front. She placed her hand over it. Definitely a hand print. "What's this from?" she asked carefully. Yay her, for not growling it.

Bella looked down to where she was touching. "Oh, that must have been Paul."

"Paul?"

"I told you… I went over to visit him, the day before yesterday. It must have taken that long for the bruise to show up."

"It looks like a hand print."

"Yes. He probably grabbed me a little hard."

Fucking her from behind. Probably his favorite position. "You had sex with him?" They both smelt so much like him these days, it was getting harder for her to tell. He was literally all over them both.

Bella looked at Leah's face. "Yes. I told you that, too."

"Was I asleep?" Leah could not remember her telling her that. She was fairly certain she would have remembered that.

"I am starting to think that you must have been." She touched Leah on the top of the head; brushing her fingers through her hair. "I wanted to try something…" She shifted nervously on her feet; she almost squirmed.

"And I couldn't help you?" Leah asked.

"No. You don't have a dick. Well, at least, that's how Paul put it."

"You sucked his dick?"

"Yes. And then we-"

"STOP!" Leah held her hands up; palms out. "I do NOT want to know." She rolled over and lay down on the bed, with her back to Bella.

Bella looked worried. "Was it okay to visit him without you?"

"Yes."

"You're not upset?"

"No."

"You see him," Bella pointed out.

"I know; that's why I'm not upset."

Bella's eyes narrowed. She sure sounded upset. "You're sure?" she asked again.

"Yep. I'm fine. I see him, you see him, we both see him."

"O-okaay."

Somehow Bella suspected that she was not going to get her thigh bruise kissed better.


	40. Chapter 40

**chapter 40**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: Leah is conflicted and prickly and truly annoying right now, but they did kind of emotionally blackmail her into this threesome. It won't work the way it is now; not until all three want it to work. I promise that I will make it right.]**

* * *

The urn containing the ashes of his mother was still on the mantelpiece, now bookended by another matching framed photo of the girls. It was the shot that Paul had taken of them on their porch. He wasn't in it and he didn't mind. It was another thread tying them to his place or tying him to theirs. He had two family shots now. That thought crept up on him. Wow. Family shots. He might need one of his dad too.

He looked at the urn again. His father was dragging his heels on the ashes thing.

"I'd scatter you," he told the urn, "but if I do it without his permission, he'd scatter me off the damn cliffs."

He wiped a speck of dust from it. "He'll be back this weekend, I think. I'll ask him then."

* * *

Bella complained to Paul the next time she saw him. "Leah doesn't want me to tell her what we do together."

They were in the kitchen. Bella was flicking through recipe books and writing her shopping list.

"Uh huh," said Paul. "What about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You like it when I tell you what Leah and I get up to. Did you want me to keep doing that?"

She looked a little nervous. "Is that okay with you?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't worry me and I know it gets you hot."

She still looked worried.

He gently brushed her cheek. "What's up, Bella?"

"I don't know. I don't like secrets and I kind of feel that if I am not talking to Leah about it, that it makes it a secret even though she actually knows about it."

"I'm not sure that I followed any of that. But she doesn't want to know the details and we can't all be together all the time."

"I know," she whined. "Because you two are so rough." Her voice was tiny.

He pulled her in against his chest. "Hey, hey. You do not want me to be rough with you. You're so breakable."

"I know. You bruised my hip when you were telling me fairy stories. Leah saw it."

He sighed. "Was she upset?"

"She said she wasn't, but she was, you know? I tried to tell her about what we did and she got all sulky and refused to hear any of it."

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault."

"I could kiss it better for you now?" he offered.

"It's almost healed."

"I am willing to bet that you have another bruise on your body somewhere that I could kiss."

"Oh, shut up."

He grinned at her. She snuggled in against his chest. He frowned. Something was up. He waited. She'd get to it if she wanted to talk.

"Paul?"

"What now?"

"Imprinting."

"Fuck."

"Will it happen?"

He hugged her. "Who said it?"

"Nobody."

"Bella."

"Okay… it was Embry and Quil."

"At the pack function."

"Yes. Embry said something that made me really worry. That he loved Kaity, but she wasn't his imprint so he was going to break up with her."

Paul was silent.

"How sad is that?" Bella asked.

"Have you talked to Leah?"

"No. It's _imprinting_."

"Sam."

"Yeah."

"It's typical of Embry to break a girl's heart now to save her pain later."

"You're avoiding the question."

"I am not." Paul hugged her closer, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "Honestly… I don't know. There have only been two."

"So far. So with two wolves in my life-"

"You can't go there, Bella. If you start worrying about what _might_ happen, you'd never leave your house, just in case something happened to you."

"I suppose," she mumbled.

"Hey, there are a lot of advantages. We don't get sick. We won't get some freaky cancer and die on you." He didn't mention that they might outlive her by a long shot.

"No, you might just get hunted or injured by vampires."

"You win that contest," he pointed out.

"I suppose I do." She chuckled. It sounded strained. "You might get hit by a car."

"Jeez, I reckon we'd survive that. If it was Quil, the car would be a write off, he's so solid. He'd probably do it, too, just to see."

"Oh, like that TV show where they do crazy stuff?"

"Jackass?"

"That's it."

"We'll call it dumbass and it'll be a certified hit."

She laughed.

Paul was glad they had changed the subject and Bella seemed to be okay about it. He thought about Leah later. They used to talk. He wasn't sure when that changed. Had he stopped trying so hard to talk to her? He had pushed and prodded at her before and forced her to talk to him. Was she jealous of him and Bella being together or was she more annoyed that he wasn't with her? Maybe he should go for more of the hard dom fucking? She had enjoyed that before.

* * *

Kim was talking. Jared, Quil and Embry weren't taking that much notice of her. Sometimes she went on a bit of rant and they usually just let it flow over them, but then a name caught their attention.

"… ugh. There is obviously something wrong with Leah Clearwater," she announced.

The boys looked blank.

"She got dumped," she continued, "and who hasn't been dumped before…"

Jared resisted pointing out that Kim, herself had never been dumped, as he was the first guy who had even taken any notice of her. She had never had a boyfriend before Jared.

"Then…" she continued, "she turned into the whiniest, most horrible bitch you have ever seen…"

Embry winced.

"And then she turned into a lesbian…" She said it as if it was akin to being contagious with some horrible disease. "And NOW it seems that she has gone completely the other way and is slutting it up with Paul Lahote." She waited for their reaction. When it wasn't forthcoming, she finished with a statement. "The girl is just not _normal_."

Jared looked pained.

Embry and Quil exchanged a look. They hated Kim and her ignorant opinions, but they didn't have a lot of options for where they could hang out. Embry was trying to back off slowly from Kaity, Quil didn't have a girlfriend at the moment and it was good to be with other pack members sometimes.

Quil rolled his eyes. "Nah, Kim," he started, "you've got it all wrong! It's Paul that's not normal. He was dropped on his head as a baby. And it's Seth Clearwater that chewed all the lead paint off his crib as a child and got brain damage. Leah's okay."

Embry raised an eyebrow at him.

Quil blustered, "Well that's what Leah always says about Seth."

"Ugh," said Kim. She picked up her handbag. "I am going out, Jared. Please tell me that they won't be here when I get back. They eat everything."

Quil replied, "Not ev-"

Embry slapped his hand over Quil's mouth before he got the rest of that sentence out.

"They'll be gone," Jared promised.

"Good." She left.

The boys all breathed out a sigh.

"Thank goodness for wolf hearing," commented Jared. He knew the guys didn't cope with Kim.

"Yep. We can run fast, too. Head out the other door when we hear her car pull up," Quil said.

"And, we don't eat everything," Embry pointed out. "You do, Jared. Do you blame us?"

"Yeah." He was unapologetic. "What are you two going to do about it? Hang at your mum's?"

"Oooh… nasty," said Quil. "True, but nasty."

Embry chuckled.

* * *

Charlie and Sue were majorly confused. They had tried to be understanding and to be there for their kids. When they had started dating each other that had got a little worrying. If Sue and Charlie ever made things formal, their family tree would have a gigantic loop in it. And Leah and Bella would be legally stepsisters.

But they were both good parents and they had been through an awful lot in the last few years.

Sue was talking to Charlie as he sipped his beer and read the newspaper. "A woman complained to me the other day that she thought her son was smoking pot! What do I say? That's nothing. Don't worry about it. My children turn furry and my daughter is a sexually confused werewolf with an anger problem?"

"Yeah. Bella is just as confused, then." He lowered the paper. "I knew something was up when I saw her at the grocery store that day. She squeaked - you know, that frightened Bella squeak noise? Like a panicked mouse."

"What? When?"

"She saw Paul and she made that noise." Charlie tried to think back on it. "And he looked smug."

"Doesn't he always?"

"No - he smirks sometimes."

"True."

Charlie frowned. "Are they sexually confused if they have sex with both? Doesn't seem confused, seems more like too accepting to me."

"You know what I mean. I wish she'd pick one."

"Why?"

"So I'd know what she is doing."

"I never thought I'd say this, but Paul is the only one who seems to know what he wants."

* * *

Leah was wound tighter and tighter. The different parts of her were warring with each other.

Part of her needed Paul and liked being with Paul; the more wolf oriented part - but she didn't like that part. And the more Bella and Paul got on, the more left out she felt. Those two had slotted together so well, right from the start. She had promised Bella that she would try this thing and she had… but…

Why wasn't Bella enough for her? She desperately wanted Bella to be all that she needed. But her wolf seemed to want Paul and she had to admit she liked being with him.

She hated the fact that it seemed like she needed him, too. She had never made it easy for him. She had fought and kicked and scratched - sometimes literally. She had made him threaten to leave. She had made him call her a were-porcupine she had been so damn prickly with him.

And he was still around. She had truly appreciated his solid strength next to her the day that Sam had a baby. A baby. She wasn't even sure she had wanted one until she was told she couldn't have it. But no, the wolf gods screwed her over again. Sam got everything. She could taste the bile in her mouth.

She remembered when she had taken Paul back to the house after the wolf sex. She had said something about never getting rid of him. And it had come true.

She hated that she wasn't enough for Bella. She wanted her to be happy but she felt like clinging to her more closely. Begging her to choose her.

Fuck.

She was jealous of Paul. And she was terrified that she was losing Bella. Slowly.

It seemed worse than losing Sam because that had been an unexpected surprise. She had been so relieved when he had been found safe and sound after weeks of being missing. No warning, no preparation, just wham and he was no longer hers. But this? She could see Bella slipping away from her and it was killing her.

Another smaller, sensible part of her almost channeled her mother's voice. Talk to people Leah, it said. This isn't healthy, it said.

She needed to talk to Paul. But she couldn't do it in the forest. Her wolf would take over and they'd end up doing something she might regret later. She'd enjoy it at the time and hate herself later.

Maybe they could go grocery shopping for Bella together? That might work.


	41. Chapter 41

**chapter 41**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Meanwhile Paul, for the first time in his life, needed to talk to someone about his love life. It must be really fucking complex. Jake? No way; Jake was too involved in Bella and too possessive over her - still. Quil and Embry were juvenile idiots, well Quil was, Embry was okay but Paul didn't trust him not to blab everything to his best friends. Seth was Leah's brother and couldn't be impartial so that was a 'No'. Collin and Brady were even newer and there was no way he would talk to them. That left Sam and Jared. Sam at least had some experience with women. Jared only knew Kim and she wasn't anything like either of his women. But he was much more conservative than Paul and they didn't think enough alike for Jared to really be his friend.

That left him with Sam as the only possibility.

He brought it up, the next time they were phased together.

_Paul: Sam, can I talk to you about the girls?_

_Sam: Leah and Bella?_

_P: yeah._

_S: you sure you want to share that with me? You keep a pretty tight lid on that head of yours lately. _He sounded tentative.

_P: years of practice._

_S: right_

Silence for a little while.

_Sam: I suppose. How did you want to do it, wolf or man?_

_P: wolf might be too confusing… I need to think as I talk, not get distracted by memories._

_S: okay. I'd agree with that. Do we do it now?_

_P: yeah - no time like the present._

_S: what about near that stream? _He showed him an image of the place he meant.

_P: that'll work. I'll meet you there._

Of course, the neat thing about talking in their heads was that they could be physically miles apart and communicate incredibly well, but to talk as humans they had to be in the same place.

Sam was waiting for him when he got there. Dressed and sitting on a rock staring into the stream. Paul phased back and dressed quickly.

"Thanks for this, Sam. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

It occurred to Paul that Sam and Jared were his closest friends because they had been the first pack; the new guys who worked half of the shit out by themselves. Sometimes in the worst way possible.

"Tell me what is troubling you, son?" Sam sounded like he was trying to channel Old Quil.

Paul chuckled. "Sure, sure oh wise one."

"No, really. You seem … confused."

"It's a bit of a problem with my brain."

"Uh huh. Just talk, Paul."

"Right." He took a breath. "Leah… well, you know Leah."

Sam looked wistful. "Yep. She was mine once."

"Yeah… is that going to be an issue?" He hadn't considered that before. He really hoped that Sam and Leah's past history was just that; if Sam punched him it would hurt.

Sam shook his head. "Nope. Not mine anymore and I am okay with it now. Mostly, because Emily had our baby. That makes a big difference. Got a pup now."

"Cool. So you took my advice and let her go?"

"Watch it, pup," Sam warned him. "She still matters to me."

Paul laughed. "I know that. So," he continued, "Leah. My wolf brain says 'yum'. She's the only female in the pack. So if I get her, I beat out all the other guys."

"Uh, huh," said Sam.

"Top dog."

Sam nodded. "I get that."

"Plus, she's a wolf. So she can't get hurt in sex and if she does get hurt, she'll heal it fast. We all have that as an issue. We have to be super soft and gentle and keep it under control all the time."

Sam frowned. "True. I hadn't actually thought about that before."

"Well I do. I like going at it hard. So with Leah, I don't have to be careful."

"Right."

"But… wolf sex also means something different."

"It does?"

"To my mind, it feels different. It feels like mating or binding stuff."

"Breeding?" suggested Sam. "Wait a second, you said 'wolf sex'. I know you had sex as wolves once. Have you tried it again?"

"No. It didn't really work. We got stuck together and freaked each other out."

"Jesus."

"We tried; it might work in another situation. If we both knew what to expect, we wouldn't freak. I seriously thought she was going to tear off my dick to get out of there."

"Sounds like her." Sam looked doubtful, though.

Paul stood suddenly and started to pace back and forth. He was such a physical person, he often needed to move while he talked. "But then, on the other hand, I've got Bella."

"Yep."

"She's like the icing on the cake."

"She's not another cake?" Sam asked.

"Well… that's the issue. She doesn't feel like a whole cake and maybe she should be."

"You've already got Leah cake."

Paul waved his hands. "Stop with the cake metaphor."

"Okay. No more cakes."

Paul glared at him.

Sam grinned. "So, Bella," he prompted.

"She's not very sexually experienced. I don't think I am breaking any secrets telling you that. Not with her dating the 106 year old virgin."

"I might have guessed."

"So I'm her first ever guy. And to her that makes me… I can't think of the word."

"Special?"

"Yeah. She thinks I'm special. I mean - **me**."

"New thing, huh?"

"Yeah. I've never been someone's one and only before."

"So you feel like you should be … what? A better person? Try harder for her?"

"I dunno. Something like that."

Sam laughed.

Paul looked annoyed.

"Typical you, Paul," Sam guffawed. "Most guys, it takes the love of one good woman to make them clean up their act. You? It takes two."

Paul grinned. "Lot to clean up."

He crouched down and took a sip from the stream with his cupped hand.

"And that's neat, too," he added. "Leah doesn't need help or need looking after."

"She needs more emotional support. She's pretty tense right now."

"You noticed that, too?"

Sam shrugged. "I thought it might be Nathan. You know, a baby."

"Shit. She can't have them."

"That's what she thinks."

"Right! So she's a bit emotional and Bella provides support for her, too. She's great at that stuff."

"So she helps you?"

"Bella?" Paul shrugged. "I suppose."

"But she needs more looking after on the physical side."

"Fuck, yeah! That girl is a magnet for supernatural fuck-ups. So Leah helps guard her, too."

"I remember that night," said Sam quietly.

"When Bella was lost?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck, she was a mess when you found her."

"She was a mess for months afterward."

Paul nodded. "That worries me too. She gets _so_ fucking emotional about stuff. It destroys her. Imagine what she'd be like if Leah imprinted?"

"Fuck," said Sam vehemently. "Or you? If she's got attached to you."

They were lost in their thoughts for a little while.

"Fuck, Sam. Listen to me; I'm turning into you!"

Sam laughed for ages at that.

"So, let me get this straight," he said when he'd stopped laughing, "What about what you need?" He held up his hand, ticking off his fingers as he spoke. "You need someone to call you on your bullshit."

"Leah," said Paul.

"A mother to look after you."

"Bella."

"A hard fuck, a soft fuck." Two more fingers.

"Each of them."

"A wolf mate?"

"Leah." Paul stood again. "And Leah needs: a tough partner, emotional support, a girlfriend and a wolf mate."

Sam added, "While Bella needs: supernatural guards, a plan B partner in case she loses one and clearly needs male and female lovers."

"Whoa," said Paul.

"Wait a second, how come you two get wolf mates when everyone else has to be happy with human mates?"

Paul chuckled. "Just lucky, I guess."

"Fuck! It makes my head hurt just thinking about it." Sam rubbed his forehead. "No one can be all of that." He didn't say anything about his alpha female thoughts. Maybe he should do some research on why Leah had phased when other girls hadn't.

"Exactly!" said Paul. "That's why we need all three."

"Either I am really tired from living with a newborn, or I am missing your point. So what's the issue?"

"It isn't working and it ought to."

"Right." He sounded skeptical. "Are you the only one who thinks it isn't working?"

"No. I don't think so."

"You haven't talked to them about this?"

"I'm just getting it straight in my head, first."

"Right." Sam paused. "Well, the first issue I can see is you."

"Me? How do you mean?"

"You don't want to settle down; you never have. You don't even live with them because you don't want to give up your space."

Paul thought it was because he had promised them he wouldn't move in, but he didn't say that.

Sam added, "Even with this freaking smorgasbord you've got going on here, you'll pick at it and find issues. Am I right?"

"Maybe." Given he was standing here finding issues, it seemed a valid point.

"And Bella doesn't do anything until she is forced into it."

"True. She does need to be pushed."

"And Leah? She will fret over all the stuff that happens and decide it is her fault, because in her head _everything_ is her fault."

Paul sat down next to Sam. Sam patted him on the back. "No idea what you are going to do with this one. Why don't you just make it easy on yourself and imprint."

Paul let out one of his barking laughs. "It doesn't work that way and you know it, Sam."

"Yeah. I know it." He paused. "Are you worried about imprinting? With two wolves In the mix, you guys have got double the chances."

"I don't think Leah has thought about that, but Embry mentioned it to Bella at the party. So, now she's worried about it. The girls can't have thought about it before they got together. They kind of just happened, but you're right about the baggage. That's a negative, three times the emotional baggage."

Sam nodded. "Three times the family shit."

"Eww. Yeah."

"An extra mother in law."

"Ahhh stop it!"

Sam laughed.

They sat in silence for a while. Sam noticed that Paul had neatly avoided the imprint question.

"So Leah's fretting, huh?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. She seems kind of freaked."

"She say why?"

"Jeez, if I knew, I could fix it."

"You want to fix it?" Sam sounded surprised.

"Fuck, Sam. I'm on a good thing here. I'm not a total idiot."

"When did she change?"

"After the wolf sex. It changed something."

"She was top dog in her house and you muscled your way in."

"Pushed her down again," Paul sounded thoughtful.

"And you aren't exactly the submissive type."

"No. Crap. I hadn't thought of that."

"So are you being a good partner or are you just fucking everybody?"

No answer.

"There's more to it than just fucking, you know Paul."

"I know."

"Yeah, maybe you know, but can you _do_ it? Be a good partner?"

"I don't know."

Sam looked at him perceptively. "It worries you."

Paul shrugged. "I suppose. So, what should I do?"

"Honestly, you have never asked my opinion on women before."

"This isn't about women, this is about relationships."

Sam laughed. "Right. Have you ever even had a girlfriend before?"

"Not really."

"So 'Mr Don't want to commit' butts heads with 'Ms I used to be top dog' and what happens to Bella?"

"She hugs everyone and doesn't want any fighting."

Sam shook his head. "You have to fight for what you want. No wonder that girl gets steamrollered all the time."

Paul stared at the ground. "Bella and I talk… you know? We always have… and I like that. Leah just fights with me."

"So you treat Bella differently to Leah?"

"Yeah… they _are_ different."

"Maybe you should try to treat Leah more like Bella. Does that make sense?"

"Like a girl? Not a wolf?"

"Man, I don't know. I blew it with Leah myself."

"Yeah but that was imprinting."

"She told me off, you know?"

"Leah?"

"When I expressed concern about her fucking you."

"She told me. Thanks a lot for the vote of support, Sam."

"I thought you were just doing your usual. Fucking and running and I didn't think she needed that."

"I suppose," Paul grumbled. "You were worried enough about her and Bella."

"She had never been like that before. I don't know. I thought I knew her. And now you tell me you are having sex with her and you hurt each other?"

"I kind of need it. If we aren't hunting-"

"You don't have the outlet." Sam frowned. "I guess that makes sense. You always were more primal than the rest of us."

Paul snorted. "Thanks for the compliment."

Silence.

"Plus, I'm not that good with sex stuff out of the ordinary. I worked that out when she started dating Bella. I couldn't imagine having sex with three of you."

Paul laughed. "It can get crowded in bed, we often end up on the floor."

Sam waved his hands. "Too much information."

There was a pause.

Sam spoke, "I don't know, Paul. The real problem is that with three of you, it's even harder to get what you all want or need. It's hard enough to manage that as a couple."

Paul grinned wickedly. "I thought you just said, 'yes dear' to Emily."

"Oh, I do." Sam was unapologetic. "It works for me. I don't give a fuck which sheets Emily buys as long as she is under them. So my advice is to pick your battles."

Paul was silent.

Sam added, "If something really matters to you, then tell them. If you don't care, let them do what they want."


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah rang him and suggested that she and Paul do the grocery shopping together. He accepted, because he was hoping to get to talk to her. Bella had some exotic things on the list and they would have to go into Forks to get it all. He finished work early and headed over to their place. He knew it was Bella's afternoon off, too. If he was really lucky, he might get a quick tumble with her before Leah got home. Sam had given him a bit of good advice about Leah, but he didn't need it where Bella was concerned and right now, he needed her.

He stood in the forest and watched her as she hung laundry. It occurred to him that he was standing almost exactly where Quil was, when he was watching her sniffing Leah's panties. That seemed like months ago. And speaking of which, that's what she was hanging up on the line now.

He took a careful breath.

Dayum. Her ass when she bent over to pick something up out of the basket. Ooh yeah. Actually, she was losing weight. He wondered idly what was causing that. Stress?

He watched her for a little while longer and then he thought that helpful Paul would be, well, you know, helping. Not standing there watching her like a creep. And the faster she hung the laundry, the more time he had to seduce her.

"Hey!" he called out as he approached her so that he didn't frighten her. "Need some help?"

"Hey, Paul." She quickly grabbed an item of clothing out of the basket and held it behind her back.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

When she didn't answer, he bent over and snagged a wet t-shirt and a few pegs. He hung it up from the bottom and pegged it into place.

"Impressive," she commented. "No one likes peg marks on their shoulders."

"You should always hang from the hem. I've been doing my own laundry for a while now, you know?"

"Oh, yes. I knew that." And then she looked guilty as if she had said the wrong thing and reminded him that he had no mother.

Bella always worried about things like that.

"It's okay."

She smiled at him apologetically.

"What's in your hand?" he asked.

"Oh… no."

"Come on. You can show me."

"No, no, no, no, no."

"That bad, huh?"

He tried to reach around her and she squealed and jumped backwards to avoid him. Being Bella, she stumbled and almost fell.

He caught her, and then held her with one hand and used the other to snag the item of clothing. He held it out as far away from her as possible.

"No!" she cried. She couldn't reach it and she couldn't get him to let her go.

He shook it out. It hung from his hand. He looked at it and then looked back at her. "Granny panties?"

"Oh, my God." She smacked at him and he let her go, now; the damage was done. He stood her back on her feet.

She folded her arms and looked sulky. "There are just some outfits where you need to wear a full brief."

"Uh, huh."

"You know," she blustered, "When you don't want a visible panty line."

"Right."

"Give!" she demanded.

He ignored her and pegged them out on the clothesline.

They both looked at them.

"They do look huge," she conceded.

"I'm sure they look better on you."

They hung up the last of the items together. She picked up the basket and he followed her to the laundry. He blocked the doorway with his hands on either side of the door-frame.

She put the basket and the pegs down and then turned around. She stepped closer to him and put her hand flat on his stomach.

He didn't speak, and he didn't touch her; just leaned his head down and very gently kissed the side of her head. Her hand was still touching him; not pushing him backwards so that she could escape.

Another kiss. She leaned into that one.

He lifted his hand and touched her under the chin; tilting her face up to his.

She had her eyes closed.

He heard her take a careful breath.

He brushed her lips with his; then another, very gently.

She made a small noise; almost like a whimper and he knew he had her.

He whispered her name, "Be-lla."

She whimpered again.

He loved seducing her like this. Her reactions just turned him on.

He crouched down and lifted her up to sit on top of the washing machine. He pulled her forwards and ground her onto him.

"Paul," she whimpered. Her arms reached up to slide around his shoulders and her legs wrapped around his hips.

"I'm here," he told her. And he wasn't leaving. "What panties do you have on, now?" he asked her.

She chuckled. "Not granny ones."

"Yeah? I don't believe you."

"You just want to see my panties," she accused.

"No, I do not. I don't want to see any panties at all on you," he assured her. Her without them was his aim.

"We can't… here?"

"We can. If you want to." He kissed her and then reached under her skirt and up to her ass. She didn't stop him. She smelt excited and she lifted herself up so that he could tug her panties off. He took a step back to pull them down her legs. He held them up. "Boy briefs, huh?"

She grabbed at them but he stuffed them in his front pocket.

"I much prefer you with no panties on," he assured her.

She looked pleased and flattered by that. "I'm starting to realize that. But what about you?"

He reached for his cut offs. "Commando. You know that. No pants."

She made a pleased hum noise. "Always ready for me?"

"Oh, yes."

Her eager hands helped him to pull them down enough to free him. His semi erect cock bobbed out and she wrapped her hand around it; pulling him in closer to her body. He kissed her again. She was a little more animated now; more eager. Her hands were already working him, squeezing and rubbing his shaft.

"Damn, girl."

"We have to practice the other… you know."

"Oral?"

"Yeah."

"Any time… any time."

She started lifting his shirt up. Her mouth searching out his nipples. Fuck. He loved it when she did that. He yanked it over his head.

She was already guiding him towards her wet center.

He lifted her and shunted her onto him. She leaned back and forced herself onto him.

He had told Sam that being Bella's one and only guy was a new thing for him. But what he also reveled in, and he hadn't really thought about it before, was that he was also the one and only. The only guy who had ever fucked her. His cock filled her and no one else had ever done it before. That thought ticked some primal box he didn't even know he had.

"This is mine," he told her, but his voice was so low she probably couldn't hear him.

She was also distracted. "I want to ride you," she whispered.

Fuck. "Can't do that here." And he decided that he really wanted her to do that.

"Hang on. You'll have to hold my cutoffs up." They wouldn't do up over his cock and there was no way he was squishing it down, or risking getting it stuck in the zipper.

She giggled.

"I'll carry you and you can hold my pants."

"I'd be honored," she breathed at him.

She held to the back of his cutoffs and somehow; stumbling and giggling, they made it inside the house.

They didn't make it much further than that. He fell onto his back on the floor. She landed on top of him.

"Ouch! That'll be another bruise on my knee."

He chuckled.

She lifted up on her knees and tugged his cutoffs down his hips. With some small movements she wriggled around and then sank down onto him.

"Ohhh… yes," she hissed.

"Fuck, yeah," he agreed. He pulled at her shirt and she got the message and took it off.

"And the bra."

He reached for her breasts when they were freed. They were smaller than Leah's but they had a much larger aureole. He liked watched her as she lifted and lowered herself onto him. Her hair tossed about and her voice was reduced to moans and grunts.

Her skirt was still around her waist.

He lifted up into her occasionally. Her nails dug into his torso and when she was ready for him, he slipped a hand down between them and stroked her clit.

He saw her stomach flutter as she came and her internal muscles gripped him like a fist. She flung her head back and groaned. He grabbed her hips and held her down hard onto him. He thrust up and came inside her.

Bella threw herself forward and collapsed on his chest. He put his arms around her and held her there.

They lay there for quite a while, breathing together.

He kissed her hair and tried to think about what he should say to Leah. How the fuck was he going to work out what she was worried about? He used to get her, maybe he was too distracted now?

He looked around their home. He remembered noticing that little bowl of polished stones, clearly collected from the beach.

"What's that bowl?" he asked Bella.

"Which one?"

"The glass one with the colored stones."

"You mean the stones, not the bowl, I assume. Ages ago, when Leah and I were first flirting, I suppose, she'd leave little gifts for me in the truck."

"Wrapped?"

"No." She laughed.

"So the stones were from her?"

"Yes, and sometimes I'd get a flower or a sprig of cedar or something. Or a polished colored glass from the beach."

"Sweet."

"It was wasn't it? I kept some of the flowers. Put them in a book to press."

"And you put all the stones in this bowl?"

"Yes."

It seemed very unlike Leah. Maybe Sam was right about that, too. She could be girlie when she wanted to be. It must fill her heart to see the little bowl and know that it mattered enough to Bella that she kept every one.

It was so subtle that no one in the pack had noticed her doing it. It didn't seem like Leah to be that sentimental either, but he kind of liked it. He could imagine her poring over things to find the right one, to use as her gift.

"She doesn't leave me gifts," he pointed out.

"Thank God. They'd probably be a leg of moose."

"Or a whole deer."

"Yeah." Bella paused. "You could give her gifts," she suggested.

"Oh, right. Are you angling for presents?"

"No, I get you. I don't need gifts."

Whoa.

He smiled at her. He was genuinely touched. He kissed her, harder than he meant to, holding her head in both his hands.

She cuddled him. He lay on the floor with her head on his chest and the weight he felt when he inhaled was her and his heart. So full.

"You want to have a shower before Leah gets home?" Bella asked.

"Good idea." They weren't hiding from her. But they both knew she'd been tetchier lately. No point in upsetting her.

"I'll grab your shirt, we left it outside."

"Okay." He kissed her again quickly before she moved.

He stole her boy briefs.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: This is a situation that has grown very quickly for the characters and has been accelerated by events; they haven't really worked all the ground rules out. They are going to make mistakes. They are all young and have had very few relationships, if any. They don't have good communication right now.]**

* * *

Paul stood in the grocery store and thought that he had changed since he had been with the girls. Bella had sex as if she was on an adventure playground. Everything was new to discover and he loved her enthusiasm. Paul remembered how she had sucked his nipples that first time. He was pretty certain that she had licked him almost all over. And the parts she missed, Leah got. He was happy. He didn't even need to flirt with other women. He almost completely ignored them if they checked him out. And if they asked? He literally told them to fuck off.

But he knew Leah was stressed and Bella was looking too thin.

He planned to talk to Leah on the way home. But then he saw Gemma Littlesea in the damn grocery store. He had turned her down; laughed in her face, but she was still a problem, and she was Collin's sister. Paul had a theory that she was bitching to Kim as well. He thought they might be friends, and Kim had been fairly bitchy to him lately. She was always bitchy to Leah.

Leah had gone back to another aisle to grab an item that they had forgotten.

Gemma grabbed him by the arm. "Hey, Paul," she crooned at him. Her whole body language screamed sex at him. She was leaning into his personal space.

He wanted to growl at her. "Fuck off, Gemma. I told you, give it up. How desperate are you?"

"Well, desperate enough to ask you, obviously."

"Go fuck yourself, Gemma. I won't be doing it for you."

Leah wandered back with two packets of spices in her hands. She didn't say anything to Gemma. She completely ignored her. It was as if Gemma was invisible to her, even if she was hanging onto Paul's arm.

"I don't know which one she wants," Leah said to Paul.

"What was she cooking? Cakes or curries? Dinner or dessert? " he asked. He took a leaf from her book and ignored Gemma too.

"Ah, cakes, I think."

"Take the ground cinnamon then."

"Hi, Leah," Gemma tried.

Zero response. Leah didn't even blink.

Paul heard a tiny growl. He looked amused. He shrugged out from under Gemma's hand. Her mouth was hanging open. "Take both," he suggested. "We can have curry another time. We'll use the cinnamon sticks as well as the ground stuff."

"Good idea." Leah leaned towards him and held her face up to his. He kissed her.

He could hear Gemma grinding her teeth as she stomped away.

He was overjoyed that Leah had kissed him. She had staked a claim on him, right in front of Gemma and that made his wolf roll around in happiness. He had been so nervous of trying to talk to her about their relationship. He nearly put finger apostrophes around that; 'relationship'.

He was so pleased that he wanted to have her, right now. He gave her a look. It was that look.

She was starting to recognize it now. "What?"

He smiled at her. A long, slow smile. He tilted his head a little. Gave her an eye fuck.

"What?" she insisted.

He reached out a hand and ran it delicately up her naked thigh. She knew what he was asking. She was wearing a skirt today. Was it for him? She met his eyes. "So? I'm wearing a skirt."

"For me?"

"Jeez you have an ego problem, you know that?" She walked over and grabbed the cart as if to continue pushing it.

"Uh huh." He held the side of the cart, so that she couldn't move it.

He leaned in closer to her. She felt him sniff up her neck. All her good intentions to talk to him went out the window when her wolf raised her head. He wanted to fuck and she knew it.

"Leave the cart," he said.

"And have to find it all again? They'll pack it away."

"No, they won't. It's a crap job putting shit back on the shelves. Nothing will melt. They'll leave it for a while." He gave her another sniff. "Long enough."

He walked backwards. Jigged his head at the back of the grocery store. The Loading zone.

She glanced around but no one was watching them. She lifted her hands from the trolley handlebar and stepped quickly after him. She had a problem. He didn't even need to talk her into it anymore.

He moved quickly and almost silently through the staff area and out the back doors. She followed him. She could already feel her excitement mounting.

He grabbed her when she exited; his arms around her chest, pushing her with his body until she almost stumbled. He shoved her out the access driveway and down to a nearby alley. She could feel how excited he was. Manhandling her turned him on.

The alley stank of piss and cigarettes. Clearly the favorite place for the workers to take a break. It was overshadowed enough to need a fluorescent light, but the bulb was going. It flashing on and off in an irregular rhythm.

"She touched me… that was it, wasn't it?"

"Yes." A tiny whisper.

His face was shoved in against her neck. His arms around her; holding her immobile against him.

"I heard that growl."

"You did?"

"Yes. I don't want her."

"No."

"I want you. Right now."

She hesitated. "Yes." It was almost a question. Did he want Bella more? She didn't ask him.

"Let me show you. Come on… the alley… you remember?"

She did remember. That spark of excitement at having sex where they could be caught. Like in Tacoma. Her wolf was annoyed with Gemma, too and wanted to reclaim Paul. He hadn't encouraged her. He had told her to go away and she had thought she had some kind of claim on him? Stupid girl. She was so lucky that she hadn't got her fucking hand torn off. The only reason she hadn't, was to preserve pack secrecy. Plus, she was Collin's sister and Leah had done enough damage to the newest wolves to join the pack.

Talk. They were supposed to talk. "Need to talk," she said to Paul.

"We will. I promise. After." He bit her ear lobe and she shivered. "Atta girl," he crooned to her. He was so attuned to her right now that he knew she was agreeing, almost before she did.

His hands were already digging under her clothing. She wanted this; her wolf wanted it. Paul wanted it. She had followed him outside, knowing full well what he planned.

His long, clever fingers dug into her panties. "You smell so good," he whispered to her. "How hard do you want it?"

"Hard."

He made a pleased noise. He pulled her panties down. She stepped out of them and left them hanging around one ankle.

His zipper sounded so loud to her in the echoing walls of the alley.

He leaned in close to her ear again. "We never did arrange that safe word. We'll talk later, not now." And with that last comment, he placed one hand over her mouth, the other grabbed her at the hip. He could read all her body responses. She was excited. "I could stick a finger in your mouth," he suggested. "You could bite it, if it's too much."

She blinked at him.

"Yeah… stupid idea… you'd bite it off."

He started working himself into her. He had to work at the first few strokes. Pushing and shoving his way into her, until she relaxed a little. She shoved herself back at him. When he slid in properly they both groaned.

Paul let go of her hip and reached for the strap of her singlet top. He pulled it down the top of her arm. Her breast ached. She was starting to get wetter. He dragged out of her and then slammed back in. She grunted and put one hand up flat on the wall in front of her. The other, she reached back and locked her fingers around his bicep.

"You gonna bruise me? Huh? Hold me too hard?"

He pulled her chin up and her head tilted back. Now he could see her eyes. He watched her as carefully as his wolf would watch a hunting target. Any sign of pain or fear and he would stop, but he knew her body well. It was always Leah's mind he couldn't crack. That gave him the most trouble. And maybe her heart.

"Christ yeah… oh, fuck that feels good," he muttered as he increased his pace from long, slow sliding thrusts to slamming super fast ones.

"Mmmmf."

"Oh yeah…" He watched as Leah's eyes closed slowly and she shuddered. She was already coming. She loved this. He really thought she needed sex like this; hard and feral.

He thought he scented something. In the moist air of the alley, scents were easier to pick up. It didn't tick a warning box, so he ignored it.

He grabbed Leah's breast and squeezed it hard. She made a guttural noise In the back of her throat.

"Like that? That's how you want it?"

He was so excited and so close to losing it. Leah's eyes rolled up in her head a little and he slammed into her and stayed there as he exploded inside her. He grunted. Fuck! That felt like it came from his toes.

He took a breath and then released her chin. She took a gasping breath of her own. Her hand loosened a touch on his bicep.

His clenching hand released and cupped her breast almost affectionately.

He leaned over her and they breathed together. His wolf brain insisted that the scent in the alley was important.

"Quil," said Leah.

"Fuck! It was too. I just didn't identify him as a danger."

"Do you think he saw us?"

"Guarantee it."

"Fuck!"

"You wanted to talk?"

"Not here."

"Okay." He rubbed his face on the side of her sweaty neck. "Mmmm." He would have happily stood here with her and waited until his legs stopped shaking. They took a couple of breaths.

"We shouldn't have done that," muttered Leah.

Oh, crap. Here it comes. "Well, we did." He kissed her neck. "No point getting shitty about it now." He chuckled. "Blame Gemma."

"Stupid bimbo."

He still felt pleased that Gemma had annoyed Leah; made her want to fuck him and reclaim him. "Come on… we need to go back and find our cart. We can talk in the truck on the way home."

* * *

Quil looked up the alley. He heard something and he could smell… pack. He crept around the corner, moving silently and swiftly. In the past, a security light had been put in, but the fluorescent bulb was about to die. It flashed on and off in a sequence that irritated his eyes. It was random enough to not allow him to avoid it, too.

He saw them in the first flash. It took a few more for him to process what he was seeing. It was Paul and Leah. They were both fully clothed. She was wearing a skirt. _Like she ever wore skirts?_ Her top was pulled down and over her upper arms, exposing one breast.

Paul was behind her. She was facing away from him. His hand was clamped over her mouth. He had her face gripped in his hand, hard enough to pull her head back at unnatural angle. Arching her back and forcing her head back and up. Her eyes looked wild. He leaned over the top of her head. She could probably see him with the unnaturalness of her pose. Her skirt was pushed up around her waist.

They were joined at the groin. Her arm was bent back and her hand was clutched around the back of his bicep. She wasn't fighting him. It took Quil a second to process that, too.

They were fucking. You couldn't call it 'making love'. Even 'having sex' wasn't right.

Fucking.

Hard.

And fast.

Quil blinked.

Paul grabbed her breast in his hand and clenched it so hard Quil hurt for her. She groaned through the hand muzzle and her eyes closed.

"Like that?" Paul asked her, intently still slamming into her at an inhuman speed.

She blinked.

Was that a yes?

Quil backed away slowly. He was even more careful than he had been entering the alley. Somehow he thought they would both hurt him if they knew he had witnessed this. When he got a certain distance, he turned and ran. When he felt like he was far enough away, he stopped. Bent down with his hands on his knees and tried to think what the fuck he was going to do about this. Should he tell anyone? Was it anyone's business?

What he really doubted was that he could keep it quiet the next time he saw either of them. He had a feeling that image was seared onto his brain.

Jesus. He shook himself.


	44. Chapter 44

**chapter 44**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Bella was wondering if she could allow herself to be happy. She had Leah and Paul. Initially she had thought that they would have more in common. She had told them _'I worry that you are both wolves and I will be pushed out.'_ She knew that they were drawn together by their wolves. Her initial fear that they would go off together and leave her had abated. She knew that they sometimes had sex in the forest or wherever they had it together. But she and Paul were close; they had always talked to each other. She liked Paul - perhaps too much. Perhaps she had always liked him. Leah had known that; she hadn't even bothered asking any other guy to have sex with Bella. Just him.

Thank goodness it was him. He was brilliant in bed. She had nothing to compare him with of course, except her knowledge of sex gleaned from books, movies and the chat of other couples. But she thought Paul was pretty spectacular in bed.

Holy crow, they had done some stuff.

Lying on the floor with him earlier she had felt so close to him; as close as she did to Leah, but in a different way. She dreamed of a perfect world where she could have them both. Was it possible? She had it now, but she had the creeping sense that this was a temporary rainbow. And that it would disappear if she moved or blew on it or something.

She was worried about Leah, though - she seemed angry and stressed again. She had hurt one of the baby wolves. And Bella was really unhappy about that. She remembered telling Paul that he was their teacher.

_"Teach them how to be good wolves."_

_"Like Guru Paul."_

What Brady had said to Leah was awful, but did she really need to break his arm? She got that the wolves were so much stronger than humans, maybe their punishments needed to be stronger, too. But breaking a limb?

It unnerved her.

Leah was as much an animal as Paul was, even if she didn't want to be.

She thought of baking Brady some cookies as an apology from her. Leah might not have done it except that she was struggling with her life. She had promised to try this three way relationship and Bella knew she had really tried, but it didn't seem to be working for her.

Crap! She hadn't baked for ages; not since the pack party. She hadn't been helping Emily, either. She phoned her immediately to ask her how she was doing. The baby had arrived and like all new babies, he had tossed all of Emily's careful plans straight out the window. Bella felt guilty. She was a horrible friend.

And Leah was a worse friend of Emily's. She really ought to try and get Leah and Emily back together. They were cousins and they used to be best friends. They ought to be in each other's lives.

Imprinting. They were best friends before that had happened. They had both moved on. It was silly for Leah to still hate her. It wasn't Emily's fault, it was just Fate.

She had tried to send Sam away and it had almost literally nearly killed her. Now she had permanent disfigurement to remind her of that act, too. Imprinting was the Holy Grail of the wolf pack; you interfered with that stuff at your risk.

* * *

Paul and Leah paid for the groceries and carried them out to his truck. He drove. He kept glancing at her. She was sitting, staring out the window.

She had said that she wanted to talk. "So talk," he said.

Silence.

"What are you so upset about?"

"Quil saw us!"

"You don't know that. He might have left before he saw anything."

"It's Quil."

"Fine. He saw us. So."

"So?"

He looked at her. She looked panicked and worried.

His head reared back as if she had struck him. "You bitch."

"What? What did I do?"

"You're doing it again. It's okay to fuck me, as long as it's kept quiet."

"You would have done it in front of Quil?"

"Damn right I would have and we just did. What the fuck?"

"I don't like it."

"You gave me all the signals; you wanted to do it."

"Yes. I did… then," she added.

"Bullcrap. So explain that to me. You wanted to reclaim me after Gemma touched my arm. But you don't want Quil to see you do it."

"Gemma didn't watch us."

"Wouldn't have made any difference to me. And I guarantee it would have turned you on big time to fuck in front of Gemma."

"You don't know me; you don't know what I think."

"Yes, I do. You blame yourself for everything."

"What about you? You just fuck me. That's your measure of if we are getting on. Did I fuck Leah today?"

"At least I'm not ashamed of doing it. And you won't talk to me. I have to start World War Three to have a fucking conversation."

Leah wanted to punch something. She wanted to open the door and do a Charlie's Angel roll out of the moving truck.

"And," Paul added, "Don't even think of jumping out of the truck."

"I wasn't."

"Even when we argue, you make up with me by fucking; not talking."

"You told me you liked fighting me."

"I do. But you don't like it. You get yourself all upset and stressed about it."

"I hate it."

"Hate it or hate her? You still hate your wolf."

"This isn't about the wolf."

"Yes, it is. Why the fuck do you think you growled at Gemma? You wanted to fuck me because your wolf wanted to reclaim me. That's what you're pissed about now."

"I wanted to talk, **not** fuck and that was not normal fucking."

"What we just did? Hell no. That was the kind of awesome sex we can have… and **only** us."

Silence.

"Of course, you hate that, too." He smacked the palm of his hand into the dash.

"Ugh." Leah pulled her feet up onto the seat and wound her arms around her legs. She was a tight little ball.

Paul glanced at her worriedly. He looked around for somewhere to stop.

"Don't stop driving," she said.

"Why not?"

"If you're driving, then your hands are on the wheel."

"I can keep them off you. Fuck! You don't trust me. We used to be friends." He made a noise of frustration. He was trying to talk to her. It annoyed him that she didn't think he could control himself. He gripped the wheel harder and drove.

There was silence for a minute.

He tried again. "You liked fucking in front of Bella."

"That was Bella; she's not pack."

"Quil will show the whole pack that memory."

"I know and then Jared will tell Kim, and Kim will tell Gemma and the Leah slut bitching will start again."

"You're not a slut if you only fuck me and Bella.

"Won't matter."

"Do you want me to talk to Jared?"

"No."

"You could talk to him yourself."

"I know."

"Kim is friends with Gemma?" Paul asked.

"Yep."

"I thought so. Pretty impressive set of double standards there. Gemma fucks anyone."

"Yep."

He pulled over to the side of the road.

She made an annoyed huff sound.

"It's not about you… well, it kind of is. All I can smell in this cab is you and me and sex. I need fresh air."

"Oh."

"Promise you won't run away."

A sigh.

"Please, Leah."

"Okay."

He only turned the motor off after she agreed.

He got out of the cab and walked around to her side of the truck. She was still curled up into a ball on the seat.

He opened the door and then stood back. He was careful not to manhandle her out of the truck, even if that was what he wanted to do. He knew better than to tell her that he had discussed her with Sam, but he wanted to fix this.

When she didn't move he went and stood with his butt resting against the front fender, crossed his arms and stared into the surrounding forest. He took deep slow breaths of the forest air.

She shifted on the seat but didn't get out.

So it was going to be like that.

Paul tried to think. If they lived together; they'd probably have more sex and more talk, but he knew Leah wouldn't cope with that. She'd have to invite him into her home and her bed. That was fair enough, Bella was hers first. Fuck! This was all spiraling off. He hated this. "I get the slut shaming stuff. Do you really think I fucked even half the people the rez thinks I have?"

"It's different for men."

"I suppose. I don't like it when you deny me." It felt like his mother abandoning him again. He said Leah wasn't honest and didn't talk and here he was clutching at secret feelings too. Fuck! This relationship stuff hurt. "It feels like my mother again," he confessed. She wouldn't know if he didn't say it.

She lifted her head. "I never thought about that."

He shrugged.

She got out of the truck. She still stood behind the door.

He'd take it. "I'm not taking Bella from you. I do not want to do that."

"She likes you."

"I know she does. And I'm not giving up on you, either."

"You should. I'm a mess."

She had been okay before he muscled into her life. Fuck! Was this all his fault?

He shook his head. "You're not a mess. You've got Sue, Seth and friends who want to help you. And you've got Bella."

"Mostly I just seem to owe Seth favors." She kicked at the ground with her foot. "And you?" She stared at the ground as if she didn't want to see his face when he answered that.

"Yeah. I'm here and I'm trying."

"You gonna fuck me better?"

"I'd do it, if it worked. Heck, I'd do it anyway."

She looked up at him now. He was staring into the forest again.

"Okay, Leah, let's do this. Think back. Did you tell your mother you were fucking Bella?"

"What? What does she have to do with this?"

"We are talking about you, not her. You. You're the relevant one, here. Did you tell heraboutBella?"

"Of course."

"Even though she was another girl?"

"Yeah." Leah frowned; she couldn't see what his point was.

"So you told her about fucking Bella, but not about me."

Silence.

"You didn't tell her about fucking me?" he insisted.

"I did!"

"When?"

"Okay I just said it was once. It was ages ago, before you came back."

"That we had just fucked once."

"Yes."

"And?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can hear the 'and'."

She took in a deep breath. "And that doing it had messed up my relationship with Bella."

He paused. "Right. We fucked more than once, even back then you lied about me. I am your dirty little secret."

"No, I don't think that," she blustered.

"If it wasn't like that, you wouldn't give a shit about Quil knowing about us. So I am good to fuck. As long as it's kept quiet and no one knows about it, and any problems it causes are my fault and not yours."

"That was before. Mom knows about you now."

"Does she? Because you told her or because she learned about it some other way?"

She gaped. She couldn't remember ever telling Sue that Paul was back in her life.

"So it was okay to tell her you were living with a woman, but not that I was visiting." He snorted.

"No… and I disagree. Any problems it causes are a pain in my ass!" she shouted at him. Then she remembered. She pointed at him triumphantly. "No, I did tell her. She came to the garage to have a go at me about it."

"Right. What did you tell her?"

"I told her that you weren't moving in, but that you were back and in my life."

His eyes bored into her. "How much do I want to bet that you weren't happy about it?"

"Well, I wasn't," she snapped.

He filled in the rest for her, "And you're still not."

There was a breathless silence.

He ran his hands through his hair. Took a step towards her and then turned it into walking around in a circle. Fuck. His heart hurt.

He tried to be flippant. "We usually fight _before_ we fuck."

"Yeah." Her voice was tiny.

"Fuck, Leah. Why don't you just say you don't want to do it anymore?"

"I don't want to lose Bella."

Not him. She didn't care about him. His wolf howled inside him. She had fucked him and claimed him and now she was throwing him away. "Bella likes me." That was Leah's ultimate fear.

She nodded.

He stared at her.

She wouldn't meet his eyes. She was staring at the ground.

She didn't say that she wanted to continue the three way relationship. She didn't say that she was sorry or that she wanted to fuck him again. She said nothing. So much for her wanting to talk to him. Was that what she wanted to talk about? She wanted to dump him? He didn't know if she wouldn't say.

He wondered how on earth they could have been so close less than an hour ago; as close as two people could be, and now she wouldn't even look at him.

He got back in the driver's seat and started the motor. She got back in her seat.

They drove back to the girl's house in complete silence.

He didn't go inside. Didn't help her get the groceries out of the back. When she had unloaded everything, he drove away.

* * *

Bella looked up from the phone when she heard the truck pull up. Paul didn't come in. Leah dumped the groceries on the front porch.

Bella rang off with Emily quickly. She walked out the front, but Leah was gone and so was her truck. Paul must have taken it.

She looked around but couldn't see where either of them had gone.

Oh, no. What on earth had happened on a simple trip to the grocery store?


	45. Chapter 45

**chapter 45**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Bella rang Paul to ask what had happened. He wasn't picking up. It went to voice-mail. "What's happened? Talk to me, please. Leah's gone."

She rang Leah and her ring-tone sounded from the bedroom. She hadn't taken her phone with her. She didn't know what else to do, so she went and got the groceries. Putting them away felt normal and routine, but she had a feeling that it was really not.

When she had finished she sat and tried to crochet. She couldn't go and try to find Leah. She didn't even have the truck to do it in and walking would be pointless in the dark. She just had to wait. She got up and kept going outside and calling her name. It was stupid, but she didn't know what else to do.

* * *

Leah ran through the forest. She was a mess. Her emotions were a tumult. The wolf. The fucking wolf had taken over in the store. In the middle of civilization, she had growled at someone. Sure she was a waste of space, but she had growled at her. And she had growled at her because she had touched Paul. That was all. The girl had touched him. That was how little control she had over her own body.

Paul! The guy she wasn't even sure that she wanted to have in her life. Although he **was** in it. He spun her around. Messed with her head. Told her he wanted her, but just treated her like a wolf girl. She knew he and Bella were different together. She was frightened of how close they were.

She had asked him along so that they could talk like human beings.

But then they had behaved like animals.

The wolf had made her fuck him in a stinking alley. In front of Quil. The whole pack would share it, as soon as Quil shared that memory with them. She and Paul could keep a much better lock on their heads than Quil could.

She was ashamed, horrified and embarrassed, but all of that was sinking under a growing anger against the part of her that caused all of this. The Wolf.

She got a confused sense of emotion from the wolf. She couldn't understand Leah's anger.

_But you enjoyed it._

I didn't want to fuck him.

_Paul smells good. He is strong._

Quil saw us.

_So?_

That was exactly what Paul said.

The wolf chuffed happily. _Fucking him is good._

The whole pack will know.

_He is your male. Why would you deny him?_

NO. He is NOT my male. I am sick of this. I will not share Bella any more. She's mine.

_You are frightened._

I will not lose Bella. This is your fault!

You have cost me everything. Everything. Sam, Emily, my father's life, my freedom of choice, the chance to have children. I am trapped here in La Push! I can never leave. I can't have a normal life like every other girl on the reservation. And it's all your fault. I hate you! I do not want to be the only girl in the pack any more.

Her wolf was confused.

While it was, she took the opportunity to beat it into submission. She took everything lupine and she shoved it down so deep inside her that she hoped it would never be found again.

She made her decision. She shut it all away inside her. She walled it up and locked the doors on it.

She hated the wolf. She was done with the pack. They didn't need her. They didn't respect her.

**She would never phase again.**

She started the slow walk home. She thought she heard Bella call her name and it made her heart lift.

* * *

Quil didn't know what to do. He decided to talk to Sam. He knocked on their door. The house smelt like baby vomit and breast milk.

Sam open the door with the cause of all these scents held up against his shoulder. His little fist waved. "Whassup?"

"I need to show you something and then I need you to alpha order me so that I never show it to anyone else."

"What the fuck?"

"Sam! Swearing." The voice came from inside the house.

"Sorry, Em."

Quil looked like an agitated mess. "I need you to do it, Sam. It's the only thing I can think of, otherwise they will both beat the ever loving shit out of me and that would hurt… you know?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"Exactly." Sam sighed heavily. "Let me guess? Paul and Leah?"

Quil nodded furiously. "Please, Sam."

Another sigh. "Hang on." He went back into the house and came out again a few minutes later without the baby.

Quil had spent the intervening time pacing up and down the porch at an almost inhuman speed.

Sam pointed to the forest. "I do not know what the fuck you saw and I am not sure I even want to see it."

They stopped inside the tree line and undressed.

"Phase."

Sam was almost instantly assaulted by the image of Paul and Leah going at it in the alley. The flashing light, the fear spike from Quil that they would hurt him if they found out he was there. The image. Paul's hand clamped over her face like a muzzle. Jesus.

Paul had told him that he and Leah liked going at it hard. But that…?

_Sam: Quil. Calm yourself. They didn't see you. They won't hurt you. I'll order them not to._

_Thank you, thank you, thank you._

_I can't make you forget you saw it, but I __**can order you to not think about it while you are phased.**_

_I think that will work._

_It will have to. It's all I've got. Try it now._

Quil's wolf face looked even more confused than it normally did.

_Nope. Nothing._

_It seems to have worked. Phase back._

Once Sam was human again, he wondered who was going to wipe his memory for him.

"Go home, Quil."

"Thanks, Sam." Quil jogged away looking much happier.

Sam sighed. Sometimes being the alpha sucked.

* * *

"What happened?" Bella asked Leah when she walked in the door.

Leah shrugged. "I went for a walk."

"And left the groceries on the porch? And you know that wasn't what I meant. You had another argument, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

"Why is it my fault?"

"I didn't say it was. I only have you to talk to. What did you say?"

"Paul was upset. We had a fight."

"What about?"

"Sex."

"Why? I thought you liked doing it with him. I've seen you having sex with him and you really enjoy it."

"Quil saw us."

"Us?"

"Paul and me, fucking in the alley behind the shops."

"So?"

"Fuck! Do you two compare notes?"

"Actually we do. Yes."

"What?!"

"He talks to me."

"Oh shit!" Leah suddenly got what she meant. "He talks to you? About me?"

"Yes. He tells me everything that you two do together, unless I am there."

"Why? Why would he do that?"

"It turns me on. Sometimes he does it in intimate detail."

"He tells you about what we do during sex? And you like that?"

"Yes, I do."

"How would you feel if he did that to me?"

"I wouldn't care less. And you are changing the subject."

"I didn't know he did that."

"He's always done it. Plus, I think he didn't want me to be jealous of you two. I know you don't talk about it. But you're not much of a one for talking. And when I tried to tell you, you shut me down. You promised that you would talk to me, way back when Paul left to be with his father. And you aren't doing it."

"Shit!" Leah said.

"Why? What have you done?"

"I got in a panic."

"About Quil knowing?"

"Yeah."

Bella's face fell. "Oh, no. You denied him, didn't you. Oh Leah. How could you?"

"I didn't think he cared."

"Of course he cares. He has gone out of his way to look after us."

"Bull shit! He got what he wanted. He wanted both of us in bed. That's what he got."

"Oh no, Leah. He wanted more than that. Don't you remember how he ran here after his mother died? He wants to be more; we imposed the 'no living here' rule on him and he has been so careful to not stay."

"I don't believe that."

"You know it. You just don't want to believe it. I know you don't. Because if you did you'd have to admit that he's more than a fuck buddy to you."

"He's not. It's just sex. My wolf wants him. That's all. But that won't be a problem anymore."

"Oh, Leah." Bella stood there and shook her head. Her earlier thoughts that she could be happy burst like so many balloons. "Why? What have you done?"

Leah looked very nervous. "I'm not going to phase anymore. I'll call Sam in the morning and tell him."

"You're leaving the pack?"

"Yes."

"Can you even do that? What about Paul?"

"I d-don't know. I think I told him it was over."

"You think? What do you mean 'you think'? What does that mean?"

"I told him I wasn't happy about it." That was almost true - he'd worked it out for himself.

"What does he think?"

Leah shrugged.

"You didn't ask him. I suspect that if he didn't come into the house and he isn't answering his phone, that he isn't happy about it. You don't think that is a decision we should have all made?" Bella asked.

"No," Leah argued, "You two pretty much decided that we would start this three way thing." She hadn't realized how much that still smarted until she said it.

Bella just looked at her.

Leah held her breath.

Bella shook her head slowly. "Maybe we did. But you agreed. You said you would try."

"And I have tried. I can't do it anymore."

"So, why did you choose him, then?"

"What? I didn't choose him."

"Yes, you did!"

Leah looked almost surprised that Bella had pointed it out to her. "Fuck!"

Bella was getting annoyed with Leah. She hated arguments and disagreements. She stalked into the kitchen and threw things angrily into the sink. It made a satisfyingly loud noise. "From the way you said it, there wasn't even another choice."

Leah didn't answer her. She was staring at a point on the wall, desperately trying to remember what her thought processes had been when she chose Paul. She knew Bella was intrigued by him and she wanted someone to look after Bella; not hurt her. "Fuck!" she swore again.

"Did you consider anyone else?" Bella pressed.

"No." Begrudging. "You really wouldn't have wanted Quil, now would you? Or Jake? In fact, as I recall Jake offered and you rejected him."

"Don't try to make this fight bigger than it already is," Bella warned. "Jake wanted way more than a quick roll in the hay or whatever. No, I wouldn't have wanted Quil, but your argument that it had to be a wolf boy didn't really hold water."

"Now, you say that."

"Hey, we both got what we wanted. Ultimately Leah, that's what it's about, you chose him." She pointed at Leah with the dish scrubber for emphasis.

"I chose him for you," Leah argued.

"Honestly? Are you kidding yourself? You chose him for yourself, too!"

"My wolf likes him," she blurted out. "I'm happy with you, but the wolf? She seems to need another male."

Bella just looked at her. She still had the dish scrubber in her hand. "I guess there aren't that any other female wolves, so she doesn't have the option to be gay."

"No."

"Is she just lonely? She needs a mate?"

"I don't know and I am sick of her controlling me."

"So she chose Paul and just dragged you along for the ride. You're fooling yourself, Leah. And resigning from the pack won't fix it."

Leah made an angry frustrated noise.

Bella glared at her. "Don't you hiss at me, Leah Clearwater. You imposed conditions on him that he agreed to."

"I never thought he would agree to those conditions," Leah wailed.

"Oh no… really?" Bella snorted. "So he outsmarted you right from the start."

"Don't say that."

"And in any case," Bella shouted at her. "The initial deal was that he have sex with **me**. Not with you! You just tagged yourself onto the original deal right from the start! Don't you try to tell me that you did it for me. It was all about YOU right back then. I got one round and you got two. Does that sound fair to you, Leah?"

"No, Paul added in that!"

"Sure, he did. But you went to talk to him with your own agenda. I was just the appetizer. And that made me feel horrible. You got what you wanted and you used me to get it. You didn't even bother asking me about my preference."

"You would have picked Paul."

"Maybe, but you never asked. So don't you dare tell me that we made decisions without your input."

"I said I was sorry for all that. And that was ages ago. Why are we still fighting about it?"

"Yes… yes, you did say sorry." Bella took a deep breath and tried to get herself back under control. She had been thinking about it earlier, that was why it was still on her mind.

There was an awkward pause while she stood there breathing and hanging on to the edge of the sink with both hands.

"So you just dumped him after fucking him in an alley?" Bella asked quietly.

"He fights with me."

"Did he pick a fight with you so you could dump him?"

Another shrug. "Are you siding with him?"

"I'm not siding with anyone. I don't even know what happened, yet."

"I… just don't want to do the three thing… not any more…"

"You could have brought it up before now."

"I didn't know how."

"You could have tried. Speaking with whole words would have been useful. I knew you had issues but if you didn't tell me about them, I couldn't do anything to fix them." Bella looked hurt. "You used to talk to me. You used to talk to Paul. You guys used to be friends. The deal was that we would talk and not hide stuff."

"You were both… so … happy."

"Are you jealous of us? Don't be ridiculous. You two were together as well."

"Please don't do this, Bella."

"What? Point out the flaws in your argument? I'm not the one who puts silly walls and boundaries up around herself. Those walls don't protect you, Leah. They isolate you. They keep people away from you."

"I like it that way."

"No, you don't. You block ME out. Stop lying to yourself."

"That's what he said."

"Paul?"

"He said I lied to myself. Ages ago."

"You do."

Silence.

Bella added, "Normally I let you get away with it. I pick my battles with you Leah. You make it so hard to love you."

"But you do, right?" She looked utterly panicked for a second.

"Love you?" Bella took a breath. Pursed her lips. "Yes," she finally said. "I love you."

Leah thought her own heart had almost stopped; waiting for her reply.

Leah knew she built those walls. They protected her. Stopped her being hurt. She liked her walls. They kept her standing when she didn't think she could any more.

Leah froze. She could hear Bella's truck.

* * *

[AN: they seemed to rehash a lot of old ground - but I felt that people do that in arguments, you know? they'll bring up some old score/sores]


	46. Chapter 46

**chapter 46**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Nikiti Lahote walked into his home expecting a lot of things, but not to see his son sitting on their battered couch with his head in his hands.

"Problem?" he asked.

"Women."

"Right."

He went to throw his clothes in the washer. He came back, and got a beer out of the fridge. Paul hadn't moved.

He glanced around. He noticed the framed photos on the mantelpiece. Ah. So things were serious. Serious enough for framed memories. Memories that were now in trouble if Paul was anything to go by. He walked over to pick up the shot of the girls. If he remembered rightly, they were wearing the clothes they wore on the day of Shania's cremation. He looked at the urn. Shit. Had to do that, too.

"You gonna fight for them?" he asked.

"Me fighting is what caused this."

Niki nodded.

"You told me to talk to them before Mom's cremation."

Niki tried to recall. Oh, yeah. He had said, '_I've got no good advice for dealing with women. Just talk to her, I suppose.'_ "And did you?"

"Nope. Too much action and not enough talk."

A pause.

"Is that Bella's truck?"

"Yep."

"Did you want me to return it?"

Paul looked up at him. "Please. I -I can't."

"Chuck my stuff in the dryer if I'm not back by then."

"Sure."

Niki got into Bella's truck and started it up. The engine caught with a throaty roar. Man, this beast idled at 80 decibels.

Paul dashed out of the house. He opened the door, reached under the driver's seat and grabbed a small item of clothing.

Niki drove over to the girl's place, parked and got out with the keys in his hand. He could hear them fighting. One guess who over.

He knocked on the door. Bella opened it. Leah was stalking back and forth in the background. "Niki." She looked both relieved and disappointed that it was him; and not Paul, he supposed.

"Brought your truck." He dropped the keys into Bella's palm. Her hand closed over them and she stared at them.

"Thank you."

"I get that this might be a bad time, but I was going to scatter Shania's ashes tomorrow." He stopped. It was a bad time and dumb idea.

Bella bit her lip. "I will come… if I can. Where?"

"I need to talk to Paul about that. I'll let you know."

"He has my number." She reached out and pressed his hand.

Niki nodded. She was trying to tell him something without Leah hearing it. "I'll tell him."

She nodded back. 'Please' she mouthed at him.

He walked home, thinking as he went.

* * *

Paul was beating himself up. He was a coward. He hadn't gone into the house and he hadn't talked to Bella. His phone kept ringing and he eventually turned it off. He felt the worst he had ever felt in his life.

He remembered thinking that Bella Swan was alarmingly naive and had learned nothing from her aborted dating experience with Edward Cullen. People hurt you when you let them in to your heart and your world, he had thought. How ironic.

And then he had let them into his world.

No. He had forced his way into theirs. He had seen something he wanted and tried to make it his. And it had all gone wrong.

He didn't know what to do. That first night, when his mother had died, he had apologized for showing up and making them fight, and he had been messing it up ever since. They were probably fighting now.

Leah didn't want him. She was embarrassed that they had been seen by another pack member. If she really wanted to fuck him, she wouldn't care about that shit. She'd fuck him in front of the whole damn pack if she really wanted to. But that was him thinking like a wolf and he knew that she was a girl as well. The wolf wanted him and the girl didn't? He had almost the best sex of his life with two different women in one day and it was a fucking disaster.

And it wasn't just the sex. He knew that.

His heart had felt full when Bella was lying on his chest and now it was a torn out gaping hole in his chest. It wasn't Bella's fault. He knew that, too. But he just wasn't up to talking to her right now.

A part of Paul saw needing the girls as a fault. He didn't know what it was that had made him show up at their house, but he could only see it as a weakness. He was a kick-ass werewolf, he didn't need to cry on girls' shoulders. He had spent most of his life virtually looking after himself; he didn't need anyone.

When he hadn't needed anyone, he hadn't got hurt.

Sure, the points he had made to Sam were all valid but they also required him to commit. And if there was one thing, he did NOT like doing, it was being pushed into things. He argued about everything, or at least had to challenge it; it was just his nature.

He was devastated. He had put his whole heart on the line; he had never done that before and fuck it hurt. It really hurt. He felt torn apart. As if he had left part of his heart with Leah and part with Bella. If they had a piece each, they didn't leave him with much to keep beating.

He knew Leah was having issues. He knew that. It had got more difficult to arrange a time for them all to be together. So really, it was Bella that was bringing the three of them together and something had changed, even she knew that. The way she had suggested that he shower after their tumble on the floor. Always thinking about Leah.

Crap. That wasn't fair. He would have suggested it anyway. To try to cause less friction between them.

He heard his father come back.

"You hungry?" Niki asked.

"Nope."

"Uh, huh. I'll cook, then." He started rattling around in the kitchen. "I thought we might scatter the ashes tomorrow. I asked them to come."

"Why?"

"They were there before for you."

"Won't be now."

"Bella said she'd try."

"She would."

"She wants you to contact her."

"She said that?"

"Not in words."

"Right."

It was hours later when he turned his phone back on. He had a message from Bella.

'R U ok?'

He looked at the screen. Clearly it wouldn't be a good idea to phone and talk to her.

He wanted to say, No. I'm hurt. I'm in pain. Please come over and fuck me and make it better.

'Confused,' he sent.

'Me too,' she replied.

Well, it was good that he wasn't alone, but if she didn't know either… yeah. That just worried him. It meant Leah wasn't talking to her, as well.

'Ashes?'

'Where?'

'Second beach. Sunset.'

'I'll try'.

That was all she could promise.

I need you. I want you. Please come. Please don't make me do that alone.

'Thx'.

'YW. Sleep.'

'Nite'.

He needed something of them both. Before he had run to them when he was distressed, now he curled up in his bed that smelt like them both clutching Bella's briefs, and the phone. Just in case they wanted him. He didn't have anything of Leah's but he could still smell her on his body.

* * *

Paul went to work with Sam. They fell into their usual comfortable silence. It wasn't until the first break that Sam brought up what had been on his mind. "Quil came over last night."

"Uh, huh. And?"

"He was… frantic."

"So he should be. Should be bleeding somewhere."

"I don't know. He seemed genuinely terrified."

"He showed you?"

A nod. "Then asked me to alpha order him."

"Huh." Paul was surprised. "That's half smart."

"Yeah. It's okay for him," Sam grizzled.

"Sorry, Sam."

"What the fuck were you thinking? I told you to talk to her and treat her more like a girl."

"Some girls fuck in alleys."

"Christ! Leah never used to. Did you force her?"

"Fuck no! She wanted to do it. Gemma touched me and she growled at her."

"And as a thank you... you did that?"

"She loves that stuff."

"Right." Sam sounded doubtful. He passed him a piece of cake from Emily's supply.

They both chewed.

Sam cleared his throat. "This morning I got a phone call. Leah has resigned from the pack."

"Did she know about Quil?"

"No. I told her. Didn't make any difference."

"Can she resign?"

A shrug. "I don't think so, but it's her head."

"Can you order her not to?"

"Nope and I wouldn't."

"No." Paul sighed.

"It's not your fault."

"Not entirely, but I didn't help. She freaked about the alley."

"She hasn't been happy to be in the pack… in what? Ever?"

"She thinks she killed her father."

"Christ, a close football game might have finished him off, with his heart problems."

Paul brushed the cake crumbs from his hand.

"So? What happened?" Sam asked.

"I think I've been dumped."

"You'd know. She shouts."

"Not at me. Hard to get her to talk at all."

"That's weird."

"That's been the problem. I think I'd prefer if she shouted at me. Not at Bella."

"She sounded odd. Tight." Sam glanced at him. "What about you? You need some time?"

"I dunno. I'll see. Need to talk to her and Bella."

"You might get shouted at then?"

Paul snorted. "Only by Bella for fucking it up."

* * *

Bella and Leah had slept as far apart in the bed as it was possible for them to be. In the morning they were quiet; almost monosyllabic to each other. They both had to work.

"Paul sent me a message. The ashes scattering is at second beach at sunset. Will you come?"

"I c-can't."

"Okay. We might come back here after, to talk." She looked at Leah earnestly.

She shook her head.

"If you're here, fine. If you're not, fine. I'm just letting you know." She paused, then added, "We won't have sex. I just want to talk to him."

"Okay."

"You need to talk to him, Leah."

She shook her head again. "Are you still angry with me?"

"Honestly? Yes. I get why you felt you needed to end it. I just don't like the way you did it."

Leah didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry I put you under such pressure. None of this would have happened except for me."

"No. Don't blame yourself."

"We all had a part to play, but I started off this whole snowball and now it has turned into an avalanche."

Leah blinked.

Bella waved her hand. "You know what I mean. With the men thing."

"Yes, yes, I do. Hard to stop once it started. I know that."

"I know you do."

Bella wasn't hugging her; she wasn't forgiven yet. But Leah felt better already. Christ, she hoped this would work. With no wolf in the equation, she was responsible for her own actions. And now it was just the two of them. The way she liked it.


	47. Chapter 47

**chapter 47**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul and Niki stood and watched the sun sink slowly towards the horizon. Niki had the urn clutched to his chest. It was just the two of them.

"Dad? Should we do this?"

He sighed. "Yeah."

"Wait a sec," said Paul. He turned away from the water. He had heard Bella's truck. "She's coming." There was only one head in the vehicle.

"She said she'd try." Niki was looking towards the road as well.

They both waited. Paul couldn't help himself, he ran back up the sand to open the door of the truck for her. He had an awkward moment when he wanted to hug her and wasn't sure if he could. She threw herself at him. He hugged her to his body with a desperation born of rationing. He might not get to do it again.

"We'll talk later," she said. "After."

She reached down and held his hand. She squeezed it. He clung to it.

Niki stepped into the water. His feet were bare and his trousers rolled up above his knees. He stood upwind and opened the urn. He started to sing in Quileute. A low, chanting song that sounded mournful and completely appropriate.

Paul shivered. He didn't know his father could sing.

Niki faced the sun as it lowered majestically behind a small bank of cloud. It appeared larger and brilliantly golden. He sang and he started to pour the ashes out slowly.

They fell, some blew out from the stream. The dust spread onto the surface of the waves in a pattern that looked for a second like the wing of a large bird. The small waves pushed and pulled at it; smacking Niki on the legs with little sounds that fitted with the rhythm of his song. He upended the urn and the last of Shania's troubles blew away.

His song finished, Niki stood and watched the sun disappear.

Paul glanced at Bella. Tears were silently rolling down her cheeks.

He squeezed her hand. "Now she's at peace."

She nodded.

"Dad?" he called.

Niki turned and walked towards them. His cheeks were wet, too. He hugged Bella. "Thanks."

"That was so beautiful."

Paul looked down at the sand. A red piece caught his eye. Usually beach glass was green or brown from broken and weathered beer bottles, but this piece was a bright blood red. He picked it up, dusted it off and put it in his pocket. He had a vague idea that he could keep it; like the girls did.

He hugged his father. "Didn't know you could sing."

"Lot about me you don't know."

Yeah. There was. They had spent so little time together in the last few years. Niki off in the forest. Paul looking after himself. "Bella and I are just going to talk. I'll be home later."

"I'm okay."

"Good."

He watched his father get back in his truck and drive away.

"What do you do with the empty urn?" Bella asked.

"No idea. Good question."

They stood there; awkward was back.

"So?" he asked.

"I'll make you a cup of coffee," she offered.

"That'd be good."

* * *

Leah watched them come back to the house. She hung where she could overhear. Paul didn't react so perhaps he hadn't noticed her. She watched Bella make them both a cup of coffee. Paul just watched Bella.

She passed him a mug. They both seemed to stare at the floor more than each other.

Bella sighed. "Tell me what happened."

"The fight?"

"And before."

He nodded. He told her everything. The whole Gemma interaction. How excited he had been that Leah had kissed him, how she had wanted to claim him, how they had sex in the alley, both scented Quil, and then he recited their truck argument virtually word for word.

"You **did** pick a fight with her," Bella accused.

"A little."

"And then you left."

"She made it pretty clear that she didn't want me around. She didn't say she wanted me or liked having me around. What am I supposed to think?"

"She hasn't been happy for a while." Bella turned her mug around on the counter.

"Did you two fight when she came home?" he asked.

"Yes. I brought up all sorts of old grievances. It was awful."

Paul listened to Bella recount some of the argument. "You said that to her? That she chose me?"

"She did. She never even asked me who I'd choose."

"I didn't know that."

"You're right about the walls, too. She can't lock up her wolf."

"She's trying to do it."

Leah was a little surprised; Bella had said they talked to each other, but she had no idea it was in this detail.

"So are you two okay now?" Paul asked.

"I haven't forgiven her yet."

"But you will."

"I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. I started this."

She gave a bitter chuckle. "See, that's what I told her. That I started it."

"No, you two were together first."

"And then we happened."

"Yeah."

"It feels wrong now and it used to feel good."

"I get that. I just keep fucking it up with Leah. I try to do what I think she wants."

"She doesn't know what she wants."

"Well, she does, she wants you."

"Before we went to Tacoma, Leah said she wasn't sure who she was anymore."

"No, and trying to resign from the pack is a very bad choice."

"I know. I don't think it's a good idea. I worry about her, Paul."

"Sam does too, but he can't order her and he won't, because of their history."

"She's cutting her own arm off."

"The wolf is more than an arm."

They were standing in Bella's kitchen; the one place that was really hers in the house. She didn't know why, but they often ended up there to chat and talk. Paul would sit up on the kitchen counter and watch her if she was cooking. Today he was leaning against the fridge with his arms folded across his chest. He looked really unhappy.

She tugged at his folded arms until they loosened. She squeezed herself in under them. He hugged her. She slid her arms around his waist and clung to him, pressing her face against his chest.

"We can't keep doing this," she whispered.

"I know."

"I know you know; you've been so careful to not touch me today."

"I can tell when I'm not wanted. I am not a complete idiot."

"I don't think you are an idiot and you are wanted."

"Thanks."

Silence.

"Is this goodbye?" she asked.

He gave a strained chuckle. "Are you breaking up with me, Bella Swan?"

She sniffed. "Yes."

He picked her up and sat her on the counter where she was level with him. He held her face in his hands. "It's okay. It will be okay."

"I don't feel okay." She blinked quickly.

"It's just hard to finish things sometimes, but you are right; it's not working."

Bella sighed again.

"If I go and leave you two together, you can try and fix it."

"It wasn't your fault; don't talk as if it was."

"It kind of was… I overstepped the boundaries." He was surprised himself, that he had said that. "I shouldn't have come here that time."

"Your mother had died!" Bella sounded shocked. "Of course you needed to be with someone."

He shook his head. "It was a weakness."

"We all need people, Paul. It's not a fault to share your grief with someone."

He just shrugged and didn't answer her.

She stroked her fingers up his arm. Staring at his skin.

"We can't see each other without Leah around," she whispered. "That would be wrong."

He was a little surprised that Bella had even thought about it, but then he knew that she had enjoyed what they did together. He remembered his discussion with Sam about how they both worked for him. He also remembered that Sam had said you needed to fight for what you wanted. Clearly Bella wanted to fight for Leah and he was out the door. Okay, he got it. She had done it before, he wasn't surprised by that. She had told him at the building site when she had begged him to leave Leah alone, that she couldn't lose her. It was always Leah first for Bella.

Leah was first, but he and Bella had something… but she wasn't going to throw Leah over for him and he wasn't sure that she should. Bella alone, wasn't enough for him. He knew that and he'd be off looking for something extra and that would break her heart. And he didn't want to do that.

He was going to ask her for something of Leah's so that he could scent it. But then he realized that would be a bad idea. He needed a clean break. Clinging to things that smelt like them was too painful and too raw. It would just remind him of what he didn't have any more.

So he'd leave now. And not come back.

"If you need us… you can come back… any time," she offered.

"No, I can't. That would not be a good idea."

"Still. The offer stands."

He nodded. She couldn't speak for Leah, but he appreciated her trying.

"Kiss me goodbye," she whispered.

He did; a gentle brushing of lips. He lifted her back down to stand on the floor and then he turned and walked out the door.

He didn't look back.

Bella knew he would never come back, as well. Paul had pride.

Leah watched him go. She felt numb.

She had listened in like a thief and she felt bad about it. But Bella had chosen her. All her fears were for nothing.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah waited for a while. She was going to leave, but then she heard something. She walked inside the house and picked up the sobbing Bella from the floor.

"What do you need?" she asked her.

"A hug," Bella wailed.

They sat back down on the floor and Leah hugged Bella and crooned to her. It took some time for Bella to be able to speak.

"You were nearby?" she asked.

"I heard."

"Why didn't you come in?"

"I dunno, it felt like it was just for the two of you."

"You're always doing that."

"What?"

"You deliberately isolate yourself. Paul was saying goodbye. He won't be back. Now he doesn't get to say goodbye to you."

"How do you know he won't be back?"

"We've hurt him too much."

* * *

Paul walked back into the house. Niki took one look at him and knew something was seriously wrong.

"She chose Leah," he said in response to his father's unasked question.

"She was always going to choose Leah."

"I wanted her to pick Leah; she's not enough for me, but it still hurts, you know?" Paul couldn't get angry with Bella and his father was right, but his frustration boiled out of him. "Why can't I have something for once? Something that matters to me?"

Niki stood and walked closer to his son. "You can, but this wasn't ever yours, Paul. I am not sure what the heck was going on while I was away, but the girls were together first and then you came back. Were they ready for you to come back?"

"No."

"I saw how awkward stuff was in Tacoma."

"That was the funeral-"

"No, it wasn't and you know it. You know women better than this - you know **these two** women, in particular, better than this. Leah did not look happy."

"She hated funerals."

"Crap. I asked you then, what you brought to them. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"They both like fucking me."

Niki just shook his head. "I taught you better than that."

"Don't you want me to have something?"

"Sure, but is this it? Really?"

"It's just the two girl thing you're upset about," Paul rationalized.

"No, it isn't. I don't get the two girl thing, I think it sounds like double the work, but if it makes you happy I'm all for it. But I don't think it was making you happy."

"Doesn't matter now, in any case; they've both dumped me."

"There was something really wrong and if you can't see it, then you need to step back and look at it from a distance."

"Are you suggesting that I run away again, old man?"

"You know what I mean. This isn't helping you."

"I do **not** want to talk about this now."

"Where was Leah?"

"Fucked if I know."

"I thought you two had some special wolf mind thing. You don't know where she is, or what she's thinking?"

"She resigned from the pack. She doesn't phase anymore."

"Is that your fault?"

"My fault? Why would it have anything to do with me?"

"Paul!** Think**! Of course it's to do with you. Fuck knows what this stuff has been doing to Leah's head… and Bella? She just looks haunted and nervous. Look how thin she has gotten for one. Look at them, Paul!"

Paul jerked his body in anger. "Get out of my face!" His arm flung out, caught Niki across the chest and threw him into the wall.

"Fuck! Fuck! I'm sorry." He rushed to help his father up.

Niki had a hand on his chest. "Aaah, Jesus. That hurt."

"Fuck, Dad. I'm sorry. Did you break anything?"

Niki took a tentative breath. "Nope, ribs are good." It occurred to him that a blow across his chest like that could have stopped his heart. He took some shallow breaths and looked at his son with concern. "I rest my case," he said, when he could speak.

"Fine." Paul's head dropped. "What do I do?"

"Come away with me, again. You were good there. You've already said your goodbyes."

He hurt his father. He had thrown him into a wall. He was human, not a wolf. If it had been Bella? Or someone else? If he had attacked one of the other imprints? Sam and Jared would kill him.

His wolf muttered that it would never hurt Bella.

He was so concerned that his father would be frightened of him, now. "You're okay with that… me being with you, after I hurt you?"

"I pushed you. I was making a point. You've got no control right now."

Paul snorted. "Fuck. That was smart and impressively dumb-"

"At the same time."

"Yeah."

"Must be genetic."

"Sam is going to have puppies."

"I'll talk to Sam for you," Niki offered.

"Given the amount of shit I keep piling on him, that might be a good idea."

"Start packing," Niki told Paul.

"Now?"

"Yep. No time like the present."

Paul looked as if he was thinking it over.

"Anyone you need to say goodbye to?"

_Leah, his wolf wailed_. "Nope."

"Good."

Niki drove over to Sam's place. Emily invited him in. He cooed over the baby for a minute.

"Okay Niki, what's the deal?" Sam asked.

"I'm taking Paul away."

"Why?"

Niki just lifted his shirt. The marks showed on his chest, but the bruises had yet to come. When they did, they'd be colorful.

"He hit you?"

Niki nodded. "He had a rough day. Bella finished it with him and Leah did it yesterday. He's going to kill someone."

"Or himself," Sam added.

"Yeah. I've got some leave; I will just take him away."

"The pack has already lost Leah."

"The pack lost Leah a long time ago," Niki said.

Sam opened his mouth as if to speak, didn't and then frowned.

Emily watched them carefully.

"Look, Sam, I'm not in a place to say it, but from the outside your pack doesn't look like one. It looks to be tearing itself apart."

"First time I've ever missed vampires," Sam admitted. "Where will you go?"

"No offense, Sam, but I'm not going to tell you. If he wants to come back on his own, he can. But he needs the space and the time."

"When will you go?"

"He's packing as we speak."

Sam sighed. "Fair enough."

He and Emily exchanged a meaningful glance.

"Emily has already had her doubts about the pack's disjointed state lately. Paul had been taking the slack with the younger wolves for me, but you're right. They have not been very respectful of Leah."

"She makes it hard," Emily said, "But we understand why."

Niki thought that they probably blamed themselves more than they deserved to. "She is one of a kind and he really cared for those girls."

Sam and Niki shook hands before he left.

Emily looked thoughtful. "Seth should tell them he has left."

"No. I should do it. I am the Alpha." Sam remembered his thoughts about alphas and wolf females. "I need to call Jacob. I think we need to do some research on why the pack even has a female."

"She's the first?"

"So we've been told. But why now? And if she really does leave the pack, does someone else have to phase to replace her?"

Sam gave the Lahotes a couple of hours to pack and get on the road and then he jogged over to the girls' house. He thought as he ran. He'd need Jake, the council records and maybe a long chat with Old Quil. He and Billy remembered the last pack. There might be some stuff that they knew that wasn't written down.

The lights were on, so they were still up. It was just after ten.

He heard Leah tell Bella it was him before she got to the door. Bella looked like someone who had cried her eyes out for hours. He hugged her; he couldn't resist. He gave Leah a long look as well. She looked tense and strained, but had no signs of tears. Typical.

"What do you want, Sam?" Leah asked.

"I wanted to let you know that Niki came over to ask for pack leave for Paul. He's taking him away."

"Away?" Bella repeated. She hadn't let go of Sam.

"I don't know where."

She nodded and sniffed.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"It's been an emotional day. We scattered Shania's ashes at sunset."

Fuck, Sam thought, Niki hadn't mentioned that. Poor Paul had had the worst day. He studied Leah. "You coming back to the pack?"

She lifted her chin. "Nope."

Sam couldn't apologize for the pack; they needed to show her they wanted her back and that was assuming they did even want her back. He had some work to do.

"How's baby Nate?" Bella asked, wiping at her eyes.

Sam's face lit up, he couldn't help it. "He's beautiful."

"I-I'll come visit soon."

"Take your time."

She smiled at him. It was a half-smile. "Thanks for coming to tell us personally, Sam."

Leah made a small noise that probably only Sam could hear.

"Look after her," he told her in a voice too low for Bella to hear. "Look after yourself, Leah," he added, audibly.

* * *

Sam started talking to the Tribal Council. He brought Jake in on it as the true alpha. He wanted to know why certain people phased, when others didn't. He started with the idea that Leah phased when sisters of other wolves did not, like Gemma Littlesea. She was older than Collin. If she was going to phase, she should have done it by now. What made her different than Leah?

They started trying to draw family trees for all the wolves that were in the pack now. They could keep it basically in families, and it was easiest to refer to them like that: Ateara, Black, Clearwater and Uley. Not sure what to do with Embry, Sam put him on his family tree. He had a feeling that Embry was his half brother and he may never know, but he was pleased to see his name there. He was a good kid and Sam was proud of him.

Old Quil said that any wolves had to descend from the last pack. They had no reason to doubt him and that pack only had members from the Black, Uley and Ateara clans. Each current pack member could be traced back to that pack, so Old Quil's statement was confirmed.

They gave each of those three families a symbol, so that they could keep track of how the families intermingled. In the small tribe and over the years, a few of the families had intermarried. Jake's mother Sarah Wilde, for example, was an Ateara. So he and his sisters had symbols of both the Black and the Ateara line.

They traced Paul back to a branch of the Uley family. Jared Cameron was a distant member of the Black family. Collin was Jake's Cousin and carried the Black symbol as well. Brady's family name was Fuller, but he and the Clearwaters had the same great grandmother, so he went on their family chart.

But the surprise came from Sue Clearwater. Her maiden name was Uley and her grandmother was a Black. So it became clear, rather obviously, that Seth and Leah had all three family symbols marked next to their names.

"Fuck!" said Jake. "What does it mean?"

Sam shook his head. "I'm not sure, yet."

"Does that mean Rachel and Rebecca will phase? If they ever come back?" Jake looked concerned.

"I don't know. But if they carry two…" Sam rifled through the charts. "Is there another girl with two symbols?"

"No. Other than Sue herself. None of the others have sisters. Gemma only has one symbol; she's a Black."

They stared at each other.

"I don't know if Dad would cope if they both phased, too," said Jake.

Sam resisted pointing out that Sue Clearwater coped with all her kids phasing. "Rebecca won't be back. She's married and living in Hawaii," Sam suggested.

"I know… but Rachel finishes college this semester."

"We'll worry about that if she decides to come home, Jake."

Jake looked over the charts again. "So am I the only wolf in the current pack with two symbols? Other than the Clearwaters."

After a quick check, Sam nodded. Was that why Jake was the alpha? Or was it a hereditary title? He was the great grandson of Ephraim Black and Billy was the Chief.

"But there is a girl with one symbol who doesn't phase and she's old enough."

"But the twins would have two and both Clearwaters carry three."

"Shit!"

"We need some more research," said Sam.

* * *

[AN: I made up Gemma. She isn't on the family trees, that appear in the Illustrated Guide to Twilight, but they must have some siblings. I am also trying to make sense of the family trees and the gene theory that Stephenie Meyer made up to explain phasing. Yeah... science theories from the woman who thinks an eclipse defeats the sun... wish me luck.]


	49. Chapter 49

**chapter 49**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah's numbness stayed. She had to believe that it wasn't all her fault. Without the pack and her wolf … it was just her in her head. She thought over things she had done or said until she made herself crazy. She had never been like this before. She had always been so confident and decisive; even if it was a surface thing and her doubts were buried deep.

She loved Bella. Her heart sped up when she saw her. She got joy from watching her. She'd watch her do nothing and enjoy it. Bella had chosen her and that decision ate at her. She started clutching her in her sleep as if Bella was her favorite teddy bear, the one that she didn't want to lose.

Bella mourned for days. She tried not to do it in front of Leah, but there was just too much in their house that reminded her of Paul. She missed him on a number of levels; they had talked to each other and now that friendship was gone too. She had always said that Leah was her best friend, but now she couldn't talk to her about the things she was upset about because it involved Paul. Bella used her vibrator more - her Paul replacement. But it wasn't the same. At least the vibrator didn't argue with Leah.

She had nightmares again. She kept dreaming that she lost Leah, too.

Half the time her nightmares came from the fact that Leah clutched her so hard when she slept. She had nightmares about being trapped, drowned, or dragged under the forest floor.

Bella was putting clothes away one day when she found a hoodie. She didn't recognize it. It couldn't be Leah's, it was too large. As if the pack wore hoodies? But then she realized that the dildo Leah had retrieved from Paul's house had been wrapped in it. It was Paul's. She sat down on the bed and held it in her hands. She lifted it to her face and tried to scent it. Did it smell like him? It couldn't, it had been in their house for so long, and in any case it had to be his from before he had become a wolf. It wouldn't fit his broad shoulders now.

She wore it.

Leah could say nothing.

Bella wondered if she should try to go to full time college. She was doing some courses online and still working at Newtons locally. She looked all the information up on the Internet and then she couldn't decide what to do. Did she walk away from Leah? She didn't want to. She had chosen Leah and she wanted to stay. She wanted to fix this.

And because Leah wasn't phasing she was irritable and aggressive.

Bella had encouraged Leah to mend bridges with Emily. She was her cousin and she had been Leah's best friend. Bella hoped that Leah just needed more human female friends. The whole reason she and Sam had even met was because Emily had come over from Neah Bay to give her some moral support. Whatever best girlfriend moral support was. A lot of bitching about the guy and eating too much ice-cream, Bella supposed. But in any case, Leah needed her family now.

So she encouraged them to spend some time together and Leah did it as an apology to Bella. Leah felt gutted that Bella was unhappy. In her attempt to apologize, she did whatever Bella wanted. If Bella wanted her to forgive Sam and Emily; she'd do it.

* * *

Seth heard from Sam that Bella had refused Paul, that Leah had resigned from the pack and that Paul had gone away. He didn't really believe it. He went over to the Lahote house to check and they were long gone. They must have left in the dead of the night.

Wow. He owed Bella a favor. She had chosen Leah. He couldn't quite believe that either, even if she had promised him that it was no contest.

But as the days and weeks passed, he realized that Paul leaving hadn't fixed it. He watched Bella mourn and felt awful. He had interfered; made her promise to choose Leah.

He tried to talk to Leah about her decision to stop phasing but she just told him it was none of his business. He tried to talk to his mother about it, but she had no solutions either. She was half pleased that Leah was not phasing and more worried that Seth now did it alone. With both Paul and Leah gone, he understood just how much they had both tried to shelter him. He had never realized before. He thought back and understood that way back, when he first phased, that Paul had hidden half of Leah's diatribes and inappropriate memory recall attacks against Sam from him too.

He tried to talk to her again.

"What are you doing, Leah?"

"I'm eating this awesome piece of chocolate cake."

Seth gave her a look. "That wasn't what I meant and you know it." He frowned at her. "What are you doing to Bella?"

"Me? I'm not doing anything to her."

"She's sad."

Leah looked hurt. "I know and I don't know how to fix it."

"You're not phasing."

"No. Don't ask me to, Seth. And besides, the wolf didn't want Bella."

"The wolf wanted Paul?"

A nod.

"You're a woman, too as well as a wolf - you can't be just one. You're driving her out of your life."

"No. I'm not and I'm not a wolf. Not anymore. That part of me is gone."

"I don't think you can just decide to leave the pack."

"Fuck it, Seth. No one asked me if I wanted to **join**."

"None of us asked for it."

* * *

With two members less, the pack were all busier. They grumbled about extra patrols. There was some talk of Leah letting them down and being selfish until Embry phased in one day and heard them. He smacked them down.

_You bunch of dickless wonders,_ he roared at Collin and Brady. _Did you help Leah? Did you make her life easier?_

The fact that it was quiet, even tempered Embry who lost it, shocked them. They hung their heads. _No. Sorry, Embry._

_Don't apologize to me, apologize to her._

_We can't, she doesn't phase anymore._

_She still lives in La Push. Grow some balls and go knock on her door._

The image of a number of terrifying options for what happened after they knocked on her door, passed across their minds. They were still frightened of her.

Embry sighed.

Collin was brave enough to ask, _Do you think we need a female in the pack, Embry?_

_Yes, I do._

_Why? _Asked Brady.

Quil must have phased in. _So you guys have some basic contact with a woman before you die._

_I've got a sister, argued Collin._

_B: Real packs have females._

_E: Yes, they do. Phase out, you two. We'll take over patrol now._

Once they had gone, Quil and Embry had the pack mind to themselves.

_Q: He does have a sister. Why hasn't she phased?_

_E: Jake has two sisters, but they are not in La Push._

_Q: but no one else does._

_E: other than Leah._

Quil shuddered. _Gemma? Christ, imagine if she phased?_

_E: Leah would tear her apart._

_Q: But Leah isn't here._

_E: No._

_Q: I do NOT want Gemma Littlesea in my head and I do NOT want to be in her head._

_E: we don't want her in the pack._

_Q: I miss Leah._

_E: I miss her, too._

_Q: How do we fix this?_

_E: I suggested the boys go knock on her door._

_Q: we could do that, too._

_E: Yeah._

_Q: worst case scenario is that Bella would feed us._

* * *

Bella was bored at work one day. Leah was constantly on her mind. She remembered Leah telling her that her name meant beautiful in Italian. She had never looked up what Leah meant. She typed it into the search box and pressed enter.

A page came up for Bible name definitions. She selected the one that caught her eye.

_GENDER: Feminine_

_USAGE: English, Hebrew, Biblical, Biblical Hebrew_

_OTHER SCRIPTS: _לֵאָה _(Hebrew)_

_PRONOUNCED: LEE-ə (English) [key]_

_Meaning & History_

_From the Hebrew name _לֵאָה _(Le'ah) which was probably derived from the Hebrew word _לְאָה _(le'ah) meaning "weary". Alternatively it might derive from a Chaldean name meaning "mistress" or "ruler" in Akkadian. In the Old Testament, Leah is the first wife of Jacob and the mother of seven of his children. Although this name was used by Jews in the Middle Ages, it was not typical as an English Christian name until after the Protestant Reformation, being common among the Puritans._

Weary? Well that wasn't very romantic. Wife of Jacob. Ruler?

How funny. It made her think about the pack. Jake was supposed to be the alpha; the pack ruler. Sam was just holding the fort for him, until Jake agreed to step up. Or something happened in the pack, she supposed.

She wondered idly what they had to do to become alpha. She'd have to ask Seth the next time she saw him.

* * *

Quil and Embry manned up and went to visit the girls.

Bella opened the door. "Oh, hey guys, Leah isn't here."

"Not a problem," said Quil. "We can visit you instead."

Bella smiled at them. "You just want me for my chocolate cake."

Quil clutched his chest as if she had actually wounded him. "Oh… the pain…"

Embry rolled his eyes.

She chuckled. "Come in. I do happen to have chocolate cake."

"Awesome." Quil hugged Bella as he went past.

"You okay?" Embry asked her.

She nodded and gave him a weak smile. She served them wolf sized wedges of cake. "How's the pack?"

It occurred to Embry that Leah leaving the pack isolated Bella as well as herself. "No new members lately."

She looked like she wanted to ask him something else.

"No one has heard from Paul. Or felt him phase in-"

"But he can be sneaky," Quil interrupted. "It's hard to explain, but even though he's not around we know he's still In the pack. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, we can kind of 'feel' him," Embry added.

"Thank you." She chewed her lip. "So nobody knows where he is? It's been ages."

"No. And no phone calls either. I think he left it here. How's Leah?"

"Angry. Irritable. Serious."

"You look tired."

She shrugged. "I haven't been sleeping well. Nightmares."

Quil and Embry resisted looking at each other. They had heard about Bella screaming in her sleep after Cullen dumped her. For months. Jake had told them. But no one had heard her recently; maybe she wasn't up to screaming yet.

"Oh, I meant to ask Seth, but you guys are here now. What do you have to do to become pack alpha?"

Quil laughed. "You gonna step up? Fight Sam for it?"

"You have to fight?" she squeaked.

Embry glared at Quil. "Why are you asking, Bella?"

"I looked up what Leah's name means. It sounds funny, but it means 'weary' or 'ruler' and I just got to thinking and it seems really silly now, seeing as she isn't even in the pack any more... and I should just stop talking."

"Ruler?" queried Embry.

"She was the biblical wife of Jacob." She laughed nervously.

Embry stared at Quil. "The ruler and the -"

"-wife of Jacob," Quil finished.

"We need to go," said Embry.

"Talk to Sam," said Quil.

"Oh, okay. I'll tell Leah you came over."

"Tell her we miss her," said Quil.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." Quil hugged her again and snagged another wedge of cake as he ran out the door.


	50. Chapter 50

**chapter 50**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Bella and Leah were both invited to the Uley house for a lunch. Leah rolled her eyes and complained about it. "A lunch - honestly. Do they think they are social climbing or something?"

"It's just a lunch, Leah," Bella said. She held the cake she had baked carefully on her lap. She looked distracted; she was hoping the top layer didn't slide off too much. Leah was taking some of the turns with a little more energy than they required. She had rushed the icing job and it was not yet set. She resisted the urge to push it back over and leave ugly fingerprints on it. "Can you slow down? You're ruining the cake."

Leah snorted, but drove more sedately.

"Thank you," Bella said.

She looked at Leah's serious profile. She was often serious, recently even though things were much better between them.

Leah seemed to know. "I'm sorry I've been such a shit lately."

"You can have a piece of chocolate cake then."

Leah grinned. "Thanks. What about two pieces?"

"Don't push it." Bella smiled at her. Things felt normal.

* * *

Leah sniffed when they walked in the house. As much as she tried to deny the wolf, she still had enhanced senses. She greeted Emily and Sam, chucked the baby under the chin and asked, "Who's staying here?"

"Emily's cousin, Kirrin."

"Not one of ours?" Leah asked.

"No," said Emily, "he's a Down; a cousin on the other side of my family from Neah Bay. So I don't think he's actually related to you."

"So we've never met?"

"No, why?"

Leah shrugged. "His scent is odd."

Sam gave her a questioning look, but she just shook her head. Bella looked at her as well; lately Leah masked her wolf senses.

They ate and laughed and took turns holding the baby. Bella was holding him. He liked to sit now if you held both his hands. So she had him sitting on the edge of the table, facing her so that she could talk to him. One of his little hands was held in each of hers and she was ready to catch him if he toppled over. She was looking at his face and making those kind of noises that babies always make grown ups say; unintelligible coos and made up words.

A man walked in from the outside veranda and closed the door behind him. He was Native American and obviously the Kirrin that Emily had mentioned. He wasn't as tall and well-built as the Quileute boys. Bella sometimes thought she was spoiled for beautiful men. She didn't give him a second glance.

"Here he is," Emily said. She stood. "Kirrin! Come and meet my cousin Leah and her friend Bella."

"Hi!" he said, as he pulled out a chair.

"I think we left you some food," said Leah and then she looked up at his face. "I-" She just stopped talking. She kept looking at him.

Bella glanced at her to see what the issue was.

Leah blinked. Her face changed. Her jaw tightened and she inhaled sharply. She stood, pushing the chair back forcibly behind her. "I-I have t-to go," she stammered. She looked beseechingly at Bella. "I'm sorry," she whispered to her.

The baby whimpered. Bella was holding his hands too tight. "Sorry, Nate," she apologized. She hugged him in against her chest and held onto him. She tried to hold herself together.

Leah ran. She left via the front door, as if she didn't want to walk too close to Kirrin. Bella only remembered that later. And when she looked back up, Leah was gone. The door slammed behind her.

"Well, that was odd," said Kirrin.

Emily and Sam were staring at each other and looked like they were holding their breath.

"Sam?" Emily asked, quietly.

"I'll go," he said.

"Or send Seth," suggested Bella. "She'll cope with him better." It amazed her that what was best for Leah was still her top priority.

Sam nodded. His face was his familiar serious one. "Bella?" he asked.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Just go, Sam. It's not your fault."

Kirrin pulled out the chair he had been holding and sat down. He seemed blissfully unaware of the tension. He picked up a plate and started piling leftovers on it.

Bella watched him warily. Emily reached a hand over to her but Bella kept hanging onto the baby. She didn't want Emily's sympathy. She didn't want her to touch her. She sat in a kind of daze for a minute or so and then she realized she just couldn't be there anymore. Especially with him. She stood, and handed the baby back to Emily.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I can't…"

"It's okay, Bella. I understand."

Yes, well Emily would.

"I'll just go home." She picked up her bag and the keys. "The cake plate?"

"Later, Bella."

"Yes, how stupid of me. It's just a cake plate; it's not important."

She didn't make it all the way home before she had to pull the truck over. She could no longer see to drive. She took another deep breath and then it all just welled out of her. She sobbed and sobbed until she thought she'd be sick.

Seth found her.

"You're supposed to be with her," she wailed.

"She doesn't want me. She doesn't want anyone."

He held her until she had calmed down a little. Then he started the motor and drove her home.

"Can I call anyone for you?"

"There isn't anyone," Bella said.

"So I will stay, then." He would not leave her alone. Not now. He rang Sue and told her what had happened.

When Bella heard him say the words she started crying again. They just seemed to echo inside her as if she was suddenly empty now.

**Leah imprinted.**

Seth hung up the phone and walked back to her. He picked her up and cuddled her on his lap. He felt oddly both familiar and wrong at the same time.

"Who is he?" she finally asked.

"Kirrin Down. He was visiting. Looking for work or something. Sam was trying to do him a favor as he was Emily's cousin. He's Makah, like her. He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and doesn't do much of anything. Sam was going to give him a construction job, but he said that he didn't do menial work. Sam hasn't been very impressed by him, so far."

Paul's job. He was going to do Paul's job. It seemed important somehow that he hadn't taken it. "Oh, no. He sounds awful."

"Leah doesn't know any of that, yet. She only met him today."

"At lunch. And she can't learn it though the pack mind. Will she phase? If she does, she will learn all of that, the first time someone phases and thinks of him?"

"I suppose. I don't know if she will phase or not."

"She imprinted."

He knew what she meant. She hadn't stopped the wolf that time. "Yeah."

"What am I going to do, Seth?"

"I don't know, Bells. You have to talk to her and find out what she is doing."

"She has to come home, first."

"Yeah."

Seth and Bella waited up for her. Bella sat with a blanket around her shoulders. She was curled up; closed in on herself.

"How did this happen?" she asked.

"If she's left the pack?" Seth's thoughts clearly mirrored hers.

"Yeah."

"I told her she couldn't just decide to leave."

"No. Quil and Embry said they could feel Paul. I didn't think to ask if they can feel Leah."

Seth tried to think about it. "I know what they mean."

"Can you feel Leah in the pack?" She stared at him.

His eyes glazed over; as if he was looking inside himself. "No. Not really. That's weird. Her wolf seems… not gone… more like it's just out of reach."

"Like a radio station just off the signal?"

"Something like that."

"So it's still there? Inside her."

"Yeah. It has to be. She is the wolf."

"Paul used to tell her that."

"Huh. She didn't get rid of it at all."

"If she locked it up. Could it have done this?"

"I don't know."

They fell silent.

Waiting.

"I want her to be happy, Seth."

"I know."

"If he really is her imprint. That means that he'll make her happy, right?"

"I don't know, Bella. There still aren't enough imprints for me to say. Only two so far; Emily and Kim. It seems to be an individual thing."

Bella nodded. "You can go if you want."

"No. I won't leave you alone. Not now."

She gave him a tiny smile. "Thanks, Seth."

Eventually, they gave up waiting. Bella finally just went to bed. She curled up into a little ball and fell into an exhausted sleep. She couldn't make any decisions about what would happen in her life, until she could talk to Leah about it.

She wanted Leah to be happy. If this guy was her imprint, then he was the one she was supposed to be with. Bella wanted her to have that.

Seth refused to leave her alone. He slept on the sofa.

* * *

Leah almost literally crawled in just before dawn.

Seth just looked at her.

"I know," she said. "I'm a coward."

Seth pursed his lip and said nothing.

"I c-couldn't stay away from him."

Seth's eyes bled sympathy. "You went back to Sam and Emily's."

"It's so weird. I had to be near him. Had to smell him. Had to find out everything about him."

She looked drained and exhausted, but her eyes had a manic brightness.

"I completely understand how Sam felt, now. I actually apologized to him and Emily." She paused. "They are… happy for me."

That struck Seth as unbelievably wrong. He knew he was supposed to love imprinting as a Quileute wolf, but it felt wrong for Leah to see herself in Sam and not think of herself in Bella as the heartbroken dumped fiancée. It was like Leah was blind or blinkered. "You talked to him?"

"Yes. I couldn't stay away."

Seth wanted to ask her if she had even thought about Bella, but he didn't want to hear her answer. He had an awful feeling it might be 'no'. He just nodded.

"Did you phase?"

"No. Not yet. I feel… stuck."

"Stuck?" he repeated. He had an image of Leah's wolf, just out of her reach. As Bella had suggested; off signal.

"You spoke to him before you spoke to Bella?" He couldn't help himself. Everything he had done for Leah and now she dumped Bella in a flash.

"It's not like that, Seth."

"Isn't it?"

Leah was silent.

Seth spoke, "Bella waited up for you to call or come home or whatever. She went to bed only a couple of hours ago. Now you're home, I can leave." He looked at her suddenly. "Or are you going out again?"

"I'll stay."

"Good."

He stood up; stretching and adjusting his shoulders. "Talk to Bella. You owe her that."

Leah stared at the floor. "I know."

"You've already made your decision," Seth said.

"I haven't."

"Don't lie to yourself, Leah."

He left. He couldn't look at her again. He felt sick.

* * *

**[AN: Leah's wolf is making a last desperate attempt to grab her attention - I promise I will fix this. DON'T PANIC!]**


	51. Chapter 51

**chapter 51**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Sam called an emergency pack meeting at his house. He looked around at the assembled pack and thought this was probably madness; he was missing Leah and Paul for a start, but they needed to deal with this as a pack. They needed to start working together.

"I think we all know about it, but just to confirm, a few days ago, Leah imprinted on Emily's cousin, Kirrin."

The announcement was greeted with an odd silence. Sam understood. Imprinting was supposed to be a special thing and none of them were very pleased about this one and none of them blamed Leah.

"How's Bella?" asked Quil.

"Shattered," supplied Seth.

Kim spoke up. She was attending to help Emily with the food. "It was bound to happen anyway, I don't know why Bella is so upset about it."

Emily, momentarily struck dumb, looked horrified.

"You're all thinking it," continued Kim, blithely, "I just said it."

"Shush, Kim," Jared tried to keep her quiet.

"Well you said it yourself, the other night," she defended. "How is she supposed to breed and make more wolves, if she is with another woman?"

The other guys looked a little off-put by Kim's statement.

Emily walked over and slapped Kim across the face. Embry instantly grabbed Jared before he attacked the alpha's imprint. Jared did snarl at Emily and then Sam growled back at him, before he got himself under control. **"Nobody phases!"** he alpha ordered.

The pack looked frozen into place.

Sam looked at Emily for an explanation.

"GET OUT of my house," she said in a low, intense voice that had an alpha undertone. She had almost growled it at Kim. She was the alpha's imprint and her word was law. Kim also looked as if she had only just remembered that Leah was Emily's cousin, too. And used to be her best friend.

"I'll take her home and come right back," Jared suggested. He bundled her out the door. Kim started to cry.

Seth watched them go. "I hate imprinting," he grunted.

Sam glared at him.

"Uh huh," Quil agreed. "You guys are like married people. Always trying to make everyone else join the club. No thanks!"

"Is she Jared's perfect mate?" Seth pointed towards the door. "I don't think so."

"Shush, Seth," said Emily. "You can't know why the gods chose her for Jared. But I know there is a reason for imprinting." She and Sam looked at each other. "I **have** to believe that… but." She stopped. She looked like she was going to cry. "This imprint is just… _**wrong**_… It just feels so wrong. This isn't Leah. Leah would never throw Bella away. Not like this… not Bella. I know he's my cousin and I am not rejecting you Sam, but—"

"—No, I agree," Sam interrupted.

"You said you were happy for her," Emily said.

"I lied to her, and she didn't even pick it. I couldn't say anything until I knew what you thought. It doesn't feel right. There is something seriously off about all of this. You're right - Leah would never have behaved like this before. That's why I have called this meeting. We have to help them both. Leah left the pack because we didn't help her." He looked in turn at each wolf. Quil, Embry, Jake, Collin, Brady and Seth. "Didn't she?"

They all looked mournful.

"I miss her," said Quil.

Sam nodded. "We all do. So we have to help her. Quil and Embry suggested something that I have been thinking on for a while. They believe that Leah is supposed to be our alpha female."

Jake didn't look surprised.

"How?" asked Seth. "She's the only female."

"She has the temperament and the history. But I'm not the true alpha."

They all glanced at Jake who said nothing.

"What does that mean?" asked Collin.

"In a real pack, the alpha female is the only one who breeds and she chooses the most powerful male as her mate." Sam shrugged. "I'm not available and I am alpha by reason of age, mostly."

"No, Sam. You do a great job," Jake said. He didn't deal with the alpha female not choosing him. They noticed, but they let it go.

"Kim's wrong. We don't exist just to breed," argued Embry. Then he looked stricken at the thought. "Do we? Sam?" he pleaded.

"Yeah! We hunt vampires. That's our job, not to make baby wolves," Quil argued.

"Sam?" Seth asked again, when Sam hadn't responded to Embry.

Sam sighed. "There might be some truth to the breeding theory," he admitted.

"What? How?" asked Embry.

Sam continued, "The tribal council, Jake and I have done a lot of work recently, trying to work out who phases and why they are the ones that do."

"Why?" asked Quil.

Jake answered him. "That's easy, Quil. So they know who to watch, and whose parents to speak to. To make sure there are no more accidents." He gave a significant glance to Emily. Sam had phased too close and nearly killed her. She still bore the scars.

"We think the presence of vampires triggers it. But it takes a long time to build up, before a full phase happens," Sam said.

"So the Cullens coming back triggered it, to start with. But, they've gone now," Seth pointed out. "And we haven't seen a vamp in ages."

"So if it happens because of vampires being nearby, then it might happen away from La Push," Embry said. "I mean, imagine, there must be vampires elsewhere. If a Quileute teen lives near one, in another city—"

"Jeez, that could be a big mess," said Quil.

"And it would completely blow the big tribal secret," Jake noted. "Dad has been trying to track down all the tribal descendants. He tells people, if they ask, that it is about keeping records up to date for Federal Government payments, but really, they are trying to keep track of potential wolves."

"Some of them don't want to be found," Emily added with a glance at Sam and Embry. Joshua Uley, Sam's father and Embry's suspected father, had been out of contact for more than a decade.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. Embry just looked at the floor.

Jake glanced at Sam with a question on his face.

Sam nodded, and then spoke, "We think there are three genes. I don't know how to explain it better than that. But it seems that all the wolves that have phased, can trace their family tree back to the last pack; the three that signed the treaty with the Cullens. So, they are either Uley, Black or Ateara descendants."

"And the Clearwaters?" asked Seth.

"Old Quil's aunt married a Clearwater. She's your great grandmother," Sam said.

"And Mom is a Uley-"

"And a Black," Jake added. "Her grandmother was Ephraim's cousin."

"So, wait a second, that means we carry all three genes. Right?" Seth asked.

Sam nodded. "What's your point, Seth?"

"Well with all of the wolf genes, maybe I should be Alpha." Seth looked nervous just at making the suggestion.

Sam just looked at him. Then he leaned a little closer to Seth; he loomed over him and asked in a low, but somehow threatening voice, "You going to fight me for it?"

"Aah… no," Seth squeaked.

Jake snorted. "That's why you aren't alpha, Seth. But you have a point."

Quil spoke. "I reckon some of the genes must have greater weight or strength."

Sam looked faintly amused. "Why, Quil? And don't tell me it's because you are the biggest."

"No," said Quil. "Embry phased really early… what were you, Em, fourth?"

Embry nodded. "So?"

"Embry is only half Quileute; his mum is Makah. Me and Jake are full bloods and we phased after he did. So what I am trying to say is that Joshua Uley shoots some high caliber wolf sperm."

"Eww," said Seth, "Do you have to?"

Quil was on a roll now, "What if he had other kids? How many others are there across the country? All capable of phasing if they are exposed to a vampire? He could have made heaps more kids." Quil suddenly looked at Embry's face. "Assuming he is even your dad, Embry."

Embry gave Quil a weary smile. He had exhausted the subject himself.

"That kind of makes sense," Sam said. He sounded astonished that Quil had made sense.

"It does?" said Quil. Quil sounded equally astonished.

Sam frowned as he thought about it. "Well, if Embry's father was a Black or an Ateara, then he should have phased at the same time as you guys. Especially as he's the same age, too."

"What's that got to do with Leah?" put in Emily. "Aren't we trying to help Leah?"

"She has all three genes, too. She has more right to be in the pack than anyone else, except Seth. Even I only have two genes," Jake said.

"Wow," said Collin.

"And we treated her badly," said Brady.

"She's our alpha female and we didn't respect that," Collin added with a glance at Brady.

"She tried to tell me all her issues and I was so hurt about Paul being in her and Bella's life, that I wasn't listening," Jake said. "She said that she hated her wolf because it cost her Sam and Emily. It killed her father and made her little brother phase. She said the only thing it hadn't taken away from her…" He paused. "Was Bella."

"**Fuck.** And now she's lost her, too," said Quil.

"Is she phasing now?" Embry asked.

"No. She said she was stuck," Seth said.

"Stuck? She **can't** phase?" Sam checked.

"That's what she said."

"What did I miss?" Jared asked as he ran in the door. Jake filled him in quietly.

"Paul," said Seth suddenly. "Where does he fit in on these family tables?"

"He's a Uley," Sam said. "One gene."

Seth nodded. "With the high caliber wolf sperm, as Quil called it?"

Jake and Sam exchanged a look. "Yeah. And the aggression to match."

Jared spoke, "I apologize for Kim. She's just very conservative, and she doesn't get the girls being together thing."

"You need to have a talk to her," Emily suggested. "She should be helping you and she isn't, and being a doormat for her isn't helping."

Sam's mouth twitched. Emily had just told off a wolf.

Jared nodded. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Where is Leah?" Quil asked Seth.

"Neah Bay. Meeting his family."

"It's that serious?"

"It's an imprint, Quil."

"Yeah… but… Leah?" Quil checked.

"He's conservative, too," added Seth. 'No sex' he mouthed at Quil.

He shuddered. "Jesus."

"Exactly!"

Quil chuckled. "Kirrin should be with Kim; she's conservative. Oh, my God! Neah Bay is a dry reservation. Tell me he doesn't drink as well?"

Emily shook her head. "Not a drop. Won't even allow it in the house."

"Poor Leah," said Embry. "So how do we help her?"

"This is _imprinting_ - you know heavy shit," said Collin.

Jake looked sad. "I don't know what I think about imprinting. If it didn't give me Bella, then I find it hard to imagine it is right. I adored her, and it just didn't happen. And now I'm with Lily and that worries me, too. I mean, I feel like going somewhere and just staring at women until it just happens," he said bitterly. "At least it would be over and done with."

"It still wouldn't be your choice, though," added Seth.

"Yeah, maybe," Jake said. "But how can we date? How can we get involved with anyone knowing that it could happen and we'd break their heart? Just like Sam did to Leah, and now Leah has done to Bella. It's not fair."

"Yeah," Embry agreed. They all knew how he felt about Kaity.

Quil spoke, "Ask the tribal council to parade every single woman on the rez past us. If it still doesn't happen, then we can go to regional, state, national-"

Sam snorted.

"We'll call it 'Wolf wants a Wife," said Embry.

"The Furry Bachelor," quipped Quil.

"What can we give them instead of a rose?" asked Jared.

"Oh, I know… a vampire finger," said Quil. "Or a whole hand. That would sort them out pretty fast."

"Ewww," said Emily.

They laughed. It was strained, but they all needed it.

"I think we need to show them what the council has done so far," Jake said to Sam.

Sam nodded and went off to his study to collect the charts. The pack pored over them.

They continued to argue about Leah and Kirrin. Like everything, because they had few secrets from each other, everything was open to discussion.

"I don't like it," said Quil. "He's not Quileute. He's not pack," he grumbled.

Jared huffed. "He is now; he's Leah's imprint."

"No, you're right. If she's the alpha female, she should have imprinted on one of us," Jake said. "What does Kirrin bring to this? Nothing!"

"She's still living with Bella," Embry pointed out.

"Not for long," Seth said quietly. "Bella's packing today."

"Shit! Would she throw her out?" Embry asked.

"She has to go. Kirrin doesn't like Bella." Seth looked disgusted. "He has insisted she leave and that Bella be gone when they get home from Neah Bay."

"Is she okay, Seth?" Quil asked. He had always liked Bella.

"She's trying to deal, but she's packing. She has to go back to Charlie's. Mum said she could stay with us, but she said she'd rather go home."

"She's already lost," Embry noted. "Imprint."

Quil sighed. "Yeah. Unless Leah can break it."

"It's not like Leah to agree; to not fight," Embry pointed out.

"Yeah," Jared agreed. "That, more than anything, shows how much it affects her."

"Leah fights about everything," Jake said.

"She's not going to fight for Bella," Sam said. "Not without help."

"Fuck. Poor Bella," said Quil. "Now she's losing her home."

"And it's Bella," said Emily. "She will let Leah go because she believes this is the best thing for her."

"Yeah." Seth sighed. "She already told me that. She loves Leah **that** much."

"I know this is hard to hear, Sam. But she has to break that imprint," Emily said. "It's the only solution. This is just so wrong."

Sam hugged her. "I know. But I don't know how to do it. I never even tried to break it for Leah."

"And I am glad of that. I love you. But ours felt right…" Emily buried her face in Sam's chest.

The rest were silent.

"Paul," said Sam, as he looked over Emily's head. "He's the key. He's the only one who ever got Leah to do stuff. And he has some kind of link to her wolf. He told me that. And he loves Bella, too." He looked at Seth. "Someone has to go get him," he hinted.

"We can't call him?" Jared asked.

"Nope. He and Niki didn't even take their phones and Niki refused to tell me where they were going."

Seth stood suddenly. He started to pace back and forth. "I hated Paul getting involved with them. I told him to back off. I made Bella promise that she'd chose Leah and not him and now it's all fucked up and I HAVE to fix it. I'll find him. I'll do it, Sam!"

They all stared at him.

"Someone must know where he is!" Seth begged. "Someone must have got a stray thought or an image. He's not that good at hiding."

Collin's hand raised slowly. "I-I think I saw him. I phased in the other day—"

Seth grabbed him by the collar before he had finished. "Phase. Now." He dragged him outside.

The rest of the pack followed. They saw the two wolves staring at each other on Sam's back lawn.

"You got it?" Sam asked Seth.

The sandy wolf nodded.

"Go!" Sam ordered.

The rest of them watched him run. When they had lost sight of him, they started to file back into the house.

Jake and Sam stood shoulder to shoulder still staring in the direction that Seth had headed.

"Should we send more?" Jake asked.

"No. Seth needs to do this alone. He'll find him. He'll help Leah. She's his sister. I'll call Sue and tell her where he's gone."

"Good idea." Jake glanced at Sam. "Leah's your real rival, Sam. I'm not even sure that I want it. Leah is older than the rest of the pack, she carries all three wolf genes and she would fight you for the alpha position if she completely embraced her wolf." He gave a short laugh. "You sure you want her to phase again?"

Sam shuddered. "Fuck. She'd fight me just because it was **me** and she'd tear me apart. And I probably wouldn't be able to stop her."

Emily came back outside. She stooped and picked up Seth's discarded clothes.

Jake entered the house, leaving them alone.

Sam hugged her.

"Thank you, Sam," she whispered to him. "I love you."


	52. Chapter 52

**chapter 52**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

The dry taiga forests of central Canada spread across rolling hills in a green blanket, with smaller areas of wetter bogs as they approached Lake Superior. Niki Lahote strode across the landscape. His pace sure and his direction certain. His son, as always, was miles ahead of him. Sometimes he just needed to let him go. He knew that. There was no way he could keep up with him. They had left the truck in the forest and were on a three day hike so that Paul could let off some steam.

He strode purposefully towards the smoke he could see climbing into the air. Paul had made a cracking pace, carrying three times as much and had clearly already set up their camp. Niki laughed out loud. He loved this area with its huge tracts of forest protected from logging. This was his kind of country.

He heard a noise behind him and whipped around, expecting to see a giant caribou, but instead, a supernaturally large sandy wolf ran towards him.

"Fuck!" he swore.

The wolf stopped in front of him. It managed to look apologetic.

"Which one are you?" he asked it. "Okay… forget I said that. Dumb ass question." He pointed off towards the way Paul had gone a couple of hours before. "He went that way. See the fire?"

The wolf nodded at him, then turned and wheeled off.

Niki adjusted his pack on his shoulders and set off in the same direction. He sighed. The holiday was over, he knew it. He was not sure what disaster had made a pack member come looking for them, but he would bet it was bad if they had sent someone all this way.

* * *

Paul sighed when he saw Seth. "What?"

Seth phased back to human. "You need to come back."

"Let's start again, Seth. 'Hi, Paul. How are you?' "

"You need to go back, Paul."

"Fuck off, Seth. I can't go back."

"I want you to. You have to."

Paul rolled his eyes. "What the fuck, Seth. You hate me, you were so glad when I left, please explain what possible reason I would have for being pleased to see you or agreeing to whatever you want."

"Leah imprinted," Seth said bluntly.

Paul froze. "On Bella?" he asked hopefully.

Seth shook his head. He looked mournful.

Paul just stared at him. Of course not on Bella; if it was going to happen with her, it would have months ago.

"Who?" he eventually asked.

"Emily's cousin."

"Is that cousin a guy?"

"Yes."

"Fuck!" He poked the fire viciously. "And?"

"What do you mean?" Seth asked.

"And?" he poked the fire again. "There has to be something wrong with this unexpectedly wonderful imprint or you would not be standing here telling me about it."

"It's not right. Nobody is happy about it. Not Bella… not Sam, not even Emily. She slapped Kim."

"What? For fuck's sake, Seth. You are not making any sense. Whatever is going on, I can't do anything about it now. So sit your ass down and I'll find you some trousers to wear before my dad gets here." He did that, threw them at Seth and then sat on the ground.

Silence. Paul stared into the fire.

"Slapped Kim?" he asked. He couldn't help himself.

"It was **awesome**… Kim made one of her usual stupid comments that Bella shouldn't be upset because everyone knew Leah might imprint one day and two girls couldn't make wolf babies and Emily just walked over and slapped her and then Jared growled at her and Sam growled at him and Emily told off Jared, too. She said he was a doormat."

Paul chuckled despite himself. "Emily did that? I didn't think she had the cojones. She's right and Leah was her friend. Kim is stupid to have forgotten that."

"Yeah."

"Haven't talked for a while huh?"

"No. It took a few days to find you."

And a few days to get back to La Push, Paul thought. If that was what he was going to do? Go back. "Who saw me?"

"Collin got a flash of a road sign and a mountain in the background."

"Fuck." He shrugged. "Had to happen I suppose."

"So are **you** okay?" Seth asked.

He snorted derisively. "Am I…?" He just shook his head. "What are you really doing here?"

"I told you. I came to fetch you."

"Right."

"For them?" Paul checked.

"No."

"Uh, huh."

"I'm not. In fact, they wouldn't want me to be here. Leah is weird and Bella is…" He paused. "Neither girl knows that I went to find you."

"So why are you here?"

Seth didn't answer that. "Leah tries to protect me."

"She's always protecting you from bad shit, eh, Seth?"

"She thought it was her fault; Dad dying and me phasing."

"I know."

"It wasn't."

"I know."

"It would have happened anyway. Me being a wolf at least… Dad dying? I dunno."

"I know."

"Could you phase and then I can show you everything?" Seth asked.

"Nope. I like making you use words"

"Jeez, you can be a dick."

"Yep."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Okay, Sam and Jake have done all this research on the family trees. The Clearwaters have Black, Uley and Ateara blood."

Paul looked at him. "All three? I've got no idea where I fit in that." He shrugged. "Not much for family. Or history."

"Sam says you are a Uley - way back. You have to be one of the three, to even phase."

"Oh, I get it. So it's only the descendants of those three? The last wolf pack?"

"Yeah."

Paul shrugged. "Well that explains why the whole rez isn't furry." He frowned. "I'll check it, but I think we are related to Sam through a great-grandmother or something."

"So you are a Uley, then?" Seth checked.

"Leah's got a thing for Uleys?" He laughed but it sounded bitter and forced. She wasn't with him. "Clearly not if she has imprinted on this dude. What's your point, Seth?"

"They think that it makes a difference to Leah. That it makes her the alpha female."

"Yeah. I worked that out a while ago."

"Well, fuck you."

"Right back at ya, Seth."

"Humph. Anyway, I mean why would the wolf gods pick such a lame bunny for her imprint? He's not even Quileute. He's Makah. He's not anything." Seth stopped.

Paul stared at the ground. He fiddled a bit with a leaf. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah. Kind of. In her Leah way."

He lifted his chin. "So she's angry and running away?"

"She's not really _**her**_… she seems mostly … manic. She can't phase, either. Her wolf is stuck."

"Fuck!" Paul gave him a serious look. "Stuck?"

"Yeah. She told me that just before I left. And no one has told me otherwise."

"She tried to lock it away. She said she wasn't phasing again."

"And she hasn't."

"Bella?" Paul asked.

"Sad. Thinks this will make Leah happy. It's her imprint."

"Double fuck!" Paul made a sudden aggressive movement.

Seth watched him. "I think Leah is miserable."

"Why? She's imprinted; she should be ecstatic. Or is it too much a reminder of Sam and Emily?"

"She really misses Bella."

"Oh, don't tell me. This guy is too vanilla?"

Seth just nodded.

"Oh, Hell. With an imprint he could let her be with Bella. What the fuck is he worried about?"

Seth added, "Bella moved out. He insisted."

"Oh for fuck's sake? Where? Back to Charlie's?"

"I think so. She hasn't got anywhere else to go."

"Leah kicked her out of her own home?" Paul was astonished.

Seth nodded. "See? You have to come back. She's not right!"

Paul knew that house meant so much to Bella. Her kitchen. The little things he had built for her. "What can I do? It's **imprinting**!"

"I dunno, but none of the pack are happy about this. Everyone thinks it is wrong. Sam thinks you have a wolf link to Leah and in any case Bella is now alone and really sad." Seth threw a rock into the forest. "I'm not even there to hug her and she cried so hard in the truck, that I thought she'd throw up."

They both looked wretched.

"I want to fix it," Paul said. "But I don't know how." His greatest fear was that if he got involved with Bella again, he'd just break her heart.

"You can reach Leah's wolf. I know you can," Seth argued. He'd heard them having sex in the forest. Leah had told him that she couldn't beat Paul in a fight. "Her wolf can't resist you."

"She didn't want me! She locked up her wolf because of me!"

"And she was **wrong**!" Seth shouted at him. "And Bella needs you."

"Fuck Seth. I'll just hurt her. She dumped me."

"You couldn't break her heart any more than it already is."

"She said she'd never survive losing Leah; that's one of the reasons I left."

Niki strode into the clearing. He glanced at Paul who looked worried and angry, and at Seth who looked desperate and tired. "Did he offer you any food, Seth?"

"He's all right," Paul said. "He would have eaten on the way."

Niki ignored Paul and threw Seth a wrapped roll from the bag Paul had been carrying. He tossed another one at Paul and got himself a third.

Silence.

"So? What's the disaster?" Niki asked.

Seth glanced at Paul who didn't look like he was going to answer him. "Leah imprinted on a guy. It's a wolf perfect match thing. She can't phase, she's gone all weird and she made Bella move out."

Niki blinked. "Leah did?"

"Yeah."

"So is imprinting meant to happen to all the wolves?" Niki asked.

"She's only the third. But she's not _her_. You know? She's weird."

"No. Not if she tossed Bella out. You'd know that Seth; she's your sister."

Seth gave Paul another quick look. "The pack sent me to get Paul."

"The pack? All of them?"

"Yeah." Seth sounded confused as to why Niki would care.

"But they sent you alone?" Niki snorted. He had told Sam that the pack wasn't working together and now they were.

"Oh that is it!" Paul said. "I'm going to go back. I can't do nothing."

"You're going back?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"No. I will face up to things. I care about those girls. If I want them, I'll fight for them. I think they need me. And running away never solved anything."

Niki frowned at him.

"Not even for you," Paul added. He stood, looking down at his father.

"This isn't about me."

"Yes, it is. In a way. You ran from Tacoma and you've been hiding in the forest ever since. You haven't even moved on."

Niki opened his mouth but just ended up taking a breath.

"You said you had regrets, Dad. In Tacoma before the cremation. Dozens of regrets, you said. Don't make this one of them."

"Huh," said Niki. "You're finally growing up."

"You need to go home, too." Paul paused. "I missed you."

Niki stood and threw his arms around his son. They hugged.

"Dad, this is not all my fault but I contributed and I have to fix it. I don't know how - I'm not even sure I can, but I just know that I need to try."

Niki blinked. "I'm proud of you, son. Go. With my blessing."

He nodded at Seth. "Thanks."

"Will you be okay on your own?" Paul asked.

"Yeah." Niki glanced at the pile of kit. "Can you take some stuff with you? Just throw it in the truck on the way past."

"Sure thing, Dad."

Paul started packing bags while Seth helpfully lightened the food load by eating half of it.

"I've got it!" he suddenly said.

"Got what?" Niki asked him.

"Why Sam sent me by myself. I was a dick to Paul. And this is my quest. I had to do it alone."

"Uh, huh," said Niki. "Sounds like something Sam would do."

"He's a good alpha," Paul commented. "And it took some guts to come and get me, Seth."

"I-I might have made a mistake - about you and the girls."

"Really? This guy is that bad?" Paul chortled.

"Yeah. He's horrible."

"You weren't being a dick, Seth. You were protecting your sister. You're supposed to do that."

Seth looked a little bit happier. "Thanks."

They had a moment where the two looked at each other and nodded.

"Don't forget your keys," said Niki.

The boys shouldered the packs, turned and ran. Niki watched them go at a crazy speed; sure footed and unstoppable.

He sat back down and stared into the fire. Never thought his own son would give him life advice. But he'd start making tracks towards home in the morning as well. He wondered what sight would greet him when he had finally made the long drive back to La Push. Nothing would surprise him.

"It's your turn to look after him now, Shania," he said aloud.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul and Seth phased once they had dumped the extra bags in Niki's truck. They made a punishing pace back to La Push, but it still took them days to travel that distance. Seth's memories of everything that had happened played across his mind and brought Paul up to speed. Seth left him at the Lahote place and went home to sleep. He had to trust in Paul now. Paul had a quick shower and grabbed his truck keys. He didn't know why he didn't just run to Forks, but he had a feeling that he might need the truck.

Paul drove up to Charlie's place, where Seth had told him Bella had gone. No patrol car meant Charlie was out. Bella's old red truck was parked outside.

He parked, jogged up to the porch and just let himself in. He listened for a little while, and then started up the stairs without calling out her name. He could tell from her breathing pattern that she wasn't awake. He found her in her old bedroom. Under a huddled heap of quilts and coverlets. It looked like she had every blanket in the house on her bed. She clearly missed her warm bed partner.

She was asleep but not breathing well. Her eyes were crusty and red. She had a mound of used tissues by the bed. She had obviously cried herself to sleep. Still? After days.

He huffed out a breath. He hated complications. He had wanted a simple, easy sex life and instead it was turning into a freaking disaster story. He looked at her red, blotchy face and remembered her fighting with Leah for him. When his mother had died and he had nowhere else to go. He had stood in the rain and listened to them argue. He remembered telling Sam that being Bella's one and only made him feel special. He didn't feel special now.

He felt like he was going to skewer his heart again. If he tried again and lost? Fuck me. That would hurt worse. He looked at her. Bella had cared about him and fought for him. He couldn't abandon her now. He had come all the way back to Forks, anyway. He had started on this path the second that he had decided to come back.

He took a deep breath and willed himself to take those extra steps, into her poorly furnished bedroom and back into her life.

She jolted awake when he put his warm hand on her face.

"Leah?" she called out in a croaky vestige of her normal voice.

She made a shuddery breathing noise when her eyes focused and she saw it was him. She stared at him as if he was a figment of her imagination.

He didn't say anything. Not one word. He just dug under all those blankets until he could feel her skin and scooped her out of her mound and into his arms. He sat down on the bed with his back against the headboard and held her to him.

She cried and cried. Contributing more tissues to the trash mound.

He looked around her empty room. All her furniture and decorations had been in the rez house. "This room is depressing," he muttered to himself. He supposed that she hadn't just lost her lover, but also her home.

"You looked surprised to see me," he finally said to her.

"You were long gone. And you hate complications."

"Fuck! I sound like a total bastard."

"No. You just like things your way."

"Christ, Bella. Even now, you can't be angry about all this?"

"I'm not very good with anger. It makes me feel sick in the stomach. My hands shake."

They were shaking a bit now, he noticed. He grabbed one and squeezed it. "Tell me everything."

"My throat hurts."

"Fine. I'm getting you a bottle of water and then we are going to talk." He dumped her back on the bed and dashed down the stairs. He was back in a minute; almost literally, with a drink. "Here." He held it out to her.

She took it, sipped a little and then held her arms up to him like a child. He picked her back up again.

He rested his cheek on the top of her head while she sipped some more water. "Your hair stinks."

"I know. You heard? How? I thought you were miles away."

"I was. In the Central Canadian forest with Dad. Seth came and got me. He told me everything."

"He's Makah."

"I heard."

"Some relative of Emily's. A cousin from the other side of the family."

"Typical. More of them fucking up her life. As if Emily taking Sam from her wasn't bad enough."

"He won't let me stay with her."

"Why not?"

"He doesn't give a reason."

"I'd say he's frightened of you."

"How can you say that? You don't even know him."

"True. I missed that pack meeting and about a dozen others. But I know the type. He doesn't want you to see her because he knows she loves you more."

Bella sniffed.

"She does," Paul insisted.

Silence.

"I wanted to kill him. I've never felt like that before, and just the thought of it made me feel sick to my stomach."

"Of course you felt like that. He took something, or someone that belonged to you. Why wouldn't you want to hurt him?"

"Is that how Leah felt when she was jealous of you?"

He wasn't sure how to answer that one. Fuck, he had just blundered in there and made a complete mess of the whole thing. His total ego. The game of bedding them both. What the fuck had he started? Did he make the small cracks that had widened into chasms later? Or did they already have their own cracks?

"I-I'm not sure what Leah thought," he finally said, when she still seemed to need an answer.

Silence again.

"Paul?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay with me?"

"Sure."

"Paul?"

"Fucks sake, Bella. I am not going anywhere - just talk to me."

"Sorry."

Silence.

He sighed. "Please ask me whatever it was you wanted to ask me."

"Why haven't you imprinted?"

Ouch. He could understand why she wanted an answer to that question. "No idea. Seen enough women. I am clearly a poor quality wolf."

"Do you think you will?"

He shrugged. "I don't need it."

"I disagree and I don't think it is about what you need."

"You have it all worked out, eh?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking and not much of anything else."

"Like washing your hair," he teased.

"Shut up. And anyway, she loves you, too."

"Me? No, she doesn't." That surprised him.

"She does."

"Whatever. We aren't talking about me right now. We are talking about you and Leah."

"No."

"What?"

"That's the point," Bella insisted. She sat up a little so that she could see his face. Or so that he could see hers.

"What is?" He frowned at her.

"There is no me and Leah."

"Not at the minute, but we can fix that."

"No, you misunderstand. She can resist me. But I don't think she can resist you **and** me."

Silence while he thought about that. It was actually pretty close to what he had already worked out; that they were better as a trio. He had told Sam that ages ago.

"Why? What's the point?" He wanted to see what she said; what she thought was going on.

"Because as you told us once, she has different boxes that need ticking. And we tick them all." She waved a hand between them.

"And this guy won't let her continue to see you."

"No. And he is pretty boring and … I can't think of the word. Ordinary?"

Paul snorted. "Vanilla?"

"Exactly. He's not Leah's type at all."

"So, Miss Heavy Thinker. What's your plan?"

"I don't have a plan."

"Brilliant. They'll never see that one coming."

Her face fell. As if she was imagining that she would never see Leah again.

He looked suddenly guilty and shifted on the bed quickly. "Come on. If I am staying you have to have a shower and wash that hair. It's too much for me."

"I do feel kind of gross."

"Atta girl."

"Will you wash my hair for me?"

"What? What am I? A hairdresser?"

"Please? It'll be fun."

"For you - maybe."

"I might feel better after a shower," she suggested archly.

"Ooh, I sure hope so."

He carried her to the bathroom. She clung to him like an invalid; as if she couldn't have managed it on her own. He really thought that she couldn't. He held her in the shower and shampooed her hair. Then he carefully dried her off with a towel. She didn't feel up to sex, but she slept naked and pressed up against him. She didn't need all the blankets now.

He lay awake for a long time. Thinking. Paul wasn't a big thinker; he usually just acted. Often without regard for the consequences. He tried to analyze it all. He had got what he wanted; what they had accused him of a long time ago. He had sex with Leah and Bella, sometimes at the same time. That was all he had wanted at the time.

Introspection wasn't big on Paul's list of things to do, either. But he tried. So he had got what he wanted. And to be honest with himself, he missed it. He missed them.

He missed being part of something comfortable and, (he actually winced when he thought it), loving. He hadn't had much of that in his life and he decided that he rather liked it. For him, two women were better than one because each had a role to play, and they filled gaps in his life; Leah on the wild side and Bella on the caring, motherly side. Although sex with her was pretty good, too. Bella had said that was what Leah needed. But was it what he needed, too?

He thought through memories of happier times. All three of them in bed together. It wasn't just the sex; they had laughed and hugged. They had been a kind of a family. Their photos in his house.

Was Bella right? Was Leah unhappy? The pack had decided this imprint was wrong. Heck even the imprint champions, Sam and Emily, had said it was wrong. Seth had played him the memory of the pack meeting. As far as he could tell, nobody liked it. Either way, he made a decision to do something about it.

They had to break it. He wasn't sure how and if Leah was the imprint crack addict she appeared to be, then she might fight them about it.

But regardless of Leah, his first priority was Bella. He held her closer and finally fell asleep.

* * *

He woke her up just after dawn. She opened her bleary, red-rimmed eyes and stared into his intense dark ones.

"Move in with me," he said.

"What?" She frowned at him.

"You have to come and live with me."

"Why?"

"You can't stay here and you're too old to live with Charlie, anyway."

"Do you really mean that?" Her lip wobbled as if she was going to cry again.

"Yeah, but don't cry on me again. I hate that shit."

She managed a faltering chuckle that subsided quickly into silence. "What are we going to do?"

"About Leah? No idea. But you can't stay here, so first, we are going to fix you up. Where's your stuff?"

"This is it." She pointed at a small backpack and one carton.

"What? That's all she let you take?"

"Yes." Her voice was tiny.

"Fuck. She is not right in the head."

"See… I told you."

"Okay. I see your point. Fuck! You two set up that place together—" He stopped talking when he realized that he was just upsetting Bella. "No more tears," he told her firmly.

"O-okay."

"No. Really," he insisted.

But her lip wobbled.

"Oh, for fucks sake." He scooped her in against him again. This time they were both naked. And it was morning. That was his excuse. Regardless, Bella didn't care. She grabbed him. "What the?" he argued.

"Are you telling me 'no'?" she asked.

"No."

Her face fell.

"No! I didn't mean that. I meant … I will never tell you no, honey." He insinuated himself under her arm and writhed against her.

"Humph."

He kissed her. "Even if you are all snotty and your breath stinks."

"Fine." She folded her arms in a huff.

"It's easily fixed. Go brush your teeth."

"You don't normally complain about morning breath."

"You don't normally forget to brush your teeth for a week."

She gave him another balancing look. "It's not a week, but that's true, I did forget," she admitted. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. He heard her using the toilet and brushing furiously. She appeared in the doorway naked and tried to smile at him with a mouthful of toothpaste and a toothbrush. He chuckled.

"We'll fix this," he rashly promised her. Even if he wasn't sure how. The Leah he knew would never have thrown Bella out of her own home with nothing. She would have cut her own damn arm off first. It didn't make sense. It must be this imprint shit overriding her natural behavior. Her Bella? No way. She had damn near fought him for her. How this new guy could make her throw her over in days? Yeah. Imprinting was fucked. He remembered Sam going all gooey over Emily and her crack baking. And Jared with the brainless Kim. Ugh.

Bella dashed back in and leapt onto the bed with him. She seemed happier already. He decided to try and make her really happy. He knew just what she liked and the way she liked it. It seemed stupid, but he knew women and self-confidence was a massive thing for them. Especially for Bella, she had hers knocked out of her periodically, it seemed.

"Are you thinking again?" she asked.

"What? I'm not allowed to think?"

"No. You looked all frowny."

He gave her a wicked look. "I was thinking how best to fuck you."

"You were?"

"Yep." He tilted his head. "Now… she likes it missionary but I know she likes it when I eat her out."

"She does." It was a statement.

"So, let's start with that and see what comes up."

"You're already up." Her hand slid under the sheet and grasped him firmly.

He grinned at her. "I can wait. Quality, baby."

"I missed you, Paul."

"Shhh. Don't tell me that; you'll put me off my game."

"Nothing puts you off your game."

"Yeah?" He pulled her in against him.

"Yeah."

"Excellent."


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

**[AN: seems all very dialogue heavy here - but they have a lot to chat about.]**

"Is Charlie home?" Bella asked suddenly; her voice dropping to a whisper.

Paul whispered back, "Yeah. I heard him come in late."

"So he doesn't know you are here?"

"He would have seen my truck parked out front. He's not stupid."

"So we have to be really quiet."

"Can you do that? Keep quiet?" he teased.

She giggled weakly. Then blinked quickly.

"Oh, no," he crooned at her. "Don't get sad."

"Make love to me, Paul."

"I don't do that."

"Yes, you do." She clutched at him. "Make love to me the way you always do. Gently."

He looked into her eyes. And all his plans went out the window. He stared into her face; with her devastated, tear ravaged eyes and he held her close. He whispered to her that she was beautiful and that he wanted to have her. He almost said the L word, but he stopped himself.

He slid his hand down under her thigh and lifted her leg up onto his hip. He reached down and stroked through her folds. She was still gripping him and she stroked her hand along his length. She often felt tentative and hesitant. He actually liked it. It reminded him that he was still Bella's one and only, as far as he knew. He was special to her. And if he was going to admit it to himself, she was special to him.

He shifted her a little against him and kissed her. Gently. As requested. Tiny little pecks that deepened only when she asked for it. And then she got a touch of desperation. She clung to him. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she wrapped her legs around him; holding him as hard as she could.

He crooned at her. He called her 'baby', like Leah usually did. He shushed her when she cried out. Pushing her face into his chest to keep her quiet, so that her father didn't hear them. He had to work his way into her; she was so tight. He wrapped his strong arms around her and held her tight, rocking her onto him.

When he needed more room to move, he rolled her onto her back and lifted himself above her. He made long slow movements into her, that didn't jar the bed or thump it into the wall so that Charlie could hear them. He just rolled his hips; the way he knew she liked it.

"See," she whispered to him.

He smiled at her sadly.

Her head threw back and she groaned. She put her own hand over her mouth to keep quiet. Knowing she was so close, he increased the pace. He watched her intently and lost track of whether he was doing this for her or for himself.

He had missed her, too. That was the last coherent thought he had before he lost himself in her.

* * *

He and Bella had always talked to each other. They lay in her bed, with his arm around her shoulders. She was drawing on his chest with her fingers.

"So explain to me why you didn't keep fighting," he said.

"Fight for Leah? With him?"

"Yeah. What's his name?"

"You don't know?"

He did, but he needed her to talk about it. "I've been kind of avoiding phasing lately, so I missed all the pack stuff, except for what Seth filled me in on, on the way back."

"Leah isn't phasing, either."

"Seth told me she was stuck. What the fuck? So why the imprint?"

"She resigned from the pack - you remember? After you…"

Yes, he remembered. "We talked about that before. So, what's his name?"

"Kirrin."

"Isn't that a girl's name?"

She chuckled weakly. "Sounds like it, doesn't it? But no, he's all _man_." She said it as if he had the plague.

"So he's one of those?"

"Those?"

"Super straight laced conservatives."

"Yes. At least, I think so."

"What was he like to live with? Did he move in?"

"No. He sleeps at Emily's but stayed around a lot."

"Seriously?"

"Dinner on the table at seven pm."

"Let me guess, you cooked it anyway?"

"Yes. He doesn't cook."

"And Leah can't cook."

A pause. He was trying to imagine Leah as some nineteen fifties housewife with a frilly apron… and failing. "Jeez. Well, look at it this way; if she is cooking for him now that you are gone, you only have to wait it out."

"Pardon?"

"He'll be dead within a month if he eats her cooking."

She chuckled again. It sounded stronger this time.

"So why didn't you fight for her?" he asked. "You said you felt like killing him - why didn't you try? Grab the cooking knife and threaten him."

"Kill him to get her back and ruin her one chance for happiness with her imprint?"

"Oh, Bella." He hugged her. "You love her that much?"

She just nodded mutely.

"Now, don't cry again," he begged. "Just think about those two probably having sex in the dark."

"If they are even having sex."

Paul snorted. "Oh heck. Is he a wait until marriage, kind of guy, too?"

"I think so."

"Jesus. Tell me Leah is not going to marry him?"

"I don't know. She doesn't talk to me much anymore." It sounded as if it hurt her to say that. He winced, just hearing it.

"Why would you buy a car you can't take for a test drive?" he asked.

"I used to think that you should wait until marriage too. A long time ago," she hastened to add, at the look on his face.

She did have a previous boyfriend. The cause of half their damn problems; sparkle-dick Cullen. "Edward?"

"Yes, he didn't believe in sex before marriage."

No, otherwise she wouldn't have been a virgin for him. "Maybe he should marry Kirrin?"

She snorted. "Oh dear, me, no." She whispered, "He's not good with gays, either."

Paul thought about it. "You need to fight. So first off, you have to fight for her. Play dirty if you have to, but get her to notice you."

"So if I stay with you, she'll notice that?"

"Yes, she will. And we'll make sure she sees it; if we can. Plus you said us together is our secret weapon."

"No pack mind will make it tricky for her to 'see' stuff."

"You sneaky thing," he teased. "You'd make me flash sex memories at her, wouldn't you?'

"I would, but we can't use it if she isn't phasing."

"We'll think of something. The No Sex issue is a good thing for us."

"It is?"

"Leah likes sex. We can use that against him."

"How?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted.

She sighed. "What does the pack think?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Seth showed me the meeting where they all talked it over."

"Typical. Bunch of gossips."

"You have more supporters than you know. Kim made some snarky comment and Emily slapped her and ordered her out of her house."

"Emily did?"

He nodded.

"Oh, my God. _Emily_?" she repeated.

"Yep and Sam lied to Leah; said he was happy for her, but told the pack this imprint feels wrong."

"That was really hard for him to admit."

"He's the imprint poster boy. It's what he wants and he thinks that it will make everyone else happy, too. He's a big believer in the wonders of imprinting. It worked for him. Or at least, it did, up until this happened."

"But he has baby Nate and Emily and they are all happy. He thinks imprinting gave him all of that."

"Yeah. I suppose it did, but Leah isn't Sam. And he would never leave that kid's mother. That would make him a scumbag like his father."

"I hadn't thought about that. And Nate is adorable."

"Seth is worried about you both. He really liked you two together."

"Yes. I think he saw it, before anyone else did. Almost before we saw it, too." She sighed. "But that was so long ago, now. Seth tried to warn you off, too. Didn't he?"

"Yeah. Jared is another imprint believer, too," Paul said.

"Makes sense. It gave him Kim."

"Kim. You've heard that story?"

"I just knew it was sudden. She handed him his pen at school or something, didn't she?"

"It was sudden. But he had known her for _years_. She sat next to him in every single one of his classes and he could not have even have told you her name if you had asked him. It was weird. She, on the other hand had a massive crush on him for years. How could she be his perfect match?"

"So she didn't appeal to him in any sense? Not even looks - he would have noticed her, otherwise. Especially with the crush thing." Bella sounded puzzled.

"Voice, smell, you name them all, and he didn't notice her with **any** of his five senses. Until the imprint. And then the sun shone out of her damn armpit."

"But they are… happy."

"Yes, they are. But they aren't Leah, either."

"Or you," she pointed out.

He shrugged.

"What about the others?" Bella asked. "Nothing has changed recently, has it?"

"Nope. Not in the last week. They are all where they were. Embry isn't imprinted and he is fine about that. He's pretty quiet and he doesn't often say what is on his mind. I think he liked Leah, a while back, but he missed his chance. Quil is still a complete goofball. Jake is…" he stopped.

"What?"

"He's dating a girl."

"I knew that. Lily."

"But I think he's half hoping."

She just stared at him.

"I got a flash from him a few days ago before he shut it down. You're single again. I'm surprised he wasn't here before me."

She got an odd look on her face. "He was. He tried. I don't know what he was thinking, but I sent him away. Told him to think of Lily."

"Wow."

"It was too much for me. I would have sent you away, too, if I had been awake."

"Lucky for me you weren't then, eh? And of course, I probably just wouldn't have gone. And Charlie was on a shift and couldn't stop me." He knew Bella well. "Did you cry after he left?"

She nodded. "I felt worse. Too much history. It reminded me of all that, as well."

"So much for him helping." He stroked her hair. "He doesn't want to fix you; he wants you to fix him. To complete him."

"And I can't. I don't have enough of me left to give away."

"I understand that."

"Thanks, Paul. Charlie asked him to call me later. Oh, my God. Charlie," she panicked.

"Shush. He's still asleep."

"Still?"

"It's only early."

"You woke me up very early."

"I did." He kissed her again.

"Paul?"

"Hmmm."

"What if you imprint?"

She was not going to let it go, now. "I won't. I don't want it."

"Why not? Leah didn't want it and look what happened to her."

"I know." He sighed. "I think imprinting is rare. It has only happened to three pack members, out of the earlier eight: Sam, Jared and Leah. That's not even half of the ten."

"Maybe your partner just hasn't come home to La Push, yet?"

He pulled his head back to glare at her. "Who are you suggesting? The Black twins? They are about the only ones I haven't seen lately. Rebecca is married and lives in Hawaii. Rachel is supposed to be back from college, but she has avoided the rez since her mother died; they both have. I very much doubt that I am wolf pedigree enough to mate with the chief's daughters."

"So who is your wolf mate, then?"

"You are not going to leave this alone, are you?"

"No. Because I think it is Leah."

"Leah and I didn't imprint."

"No but I think you are wolf mates."

"Why?"

"After you tried to have sex in wolf form. I think that made all the difference to you both. She had that link with you after that."

"Not enough of a difference. We aren't together. And she imprinted, anyway," he argued.

"It did make a difference! She was different with you, than with anyone else. You remember the sex you used to have. That scared others. Even other pack members."

"Oh, yeah. I remember the sex."

There was silence for a beat.

"Don't get angry with me," Bella said.

"Why? Bella," he warned.

"I think she imprinted because you left."

"So you think this is my fault? She drove me away."

"Because you had a link with her wolf and she hated the wolf. How can I explain this?"

"Well try, coz I'm getting pissed."

"If you were here with me and Leah, then we would be a solid unit."

"A unit?"

"A block. I can't think of another word. But there would be no weaknesses in the wall. No chinks for an imprint to get through."

He frowned at her.

She waved her hands as she tried to explain her thoughts. "You think the others don't want or need imprints so it doesn't happen for them. Is that right?"

"I suppose. Unless Quil imprinted on a kid, then he'd have someone to play with. I'm joking," he added hastily at her look. "Seth is prime wolf breeding material."

"My point exactly. Seth is completely happy on his own. He doesn't need it to be happy."

"So you think you get an imprint if you need a helping hand to choose your perfect mate?"

"Maybe."

"Sam was with Leah, before Emily," he pointed out.

"She loved him. But honestly, would they have gone the distance? I am sure you said that before. That Leah was the wrong person for him. Not domestic enough."

"The fact that she fell in love with you, shows that something fairly small and shapely was missing from her life. And Sam is so happy with Emily. She is what he needed, too."

"Shapely?" she asked.

"And small."

She stared at him. "I really did miss you."

"I know." He grinned at her. "Don't change the subject; you were busy blaming me for everything."

"Yes. She didn't need you, but then you pushed your way in. And then you just left."

He looked at her. "And?" He could tell she hadn't finished yet.

"And you left a large man shaped hole in Leah's wall. A hole too big for me to fill all by myself. She liked sex with you, I know she did. And you liked being with her. I still don't understand what happened between you both."

"I don't really get it either," he confessed

"I just know that after you left or she drove you away or whatever happened, that she had chinks in her armor."

"And Kirrin happened."

"It could have been any guy. He was just the first stranger she'd seen. That's my theory."

He shifted her so that she was straddling him. He held her face and looked at her. "That's your theory?"

She nodded.

"I think the wolf has something to do with it, too. She tried to cut off her wolf, and now she can't phase. I think the wolf is hiding now."

"I would." She chuckled. "I **did** hide."

"You didn't even unpack. Okay. So how do we break the imprint?"

She smiled at him. "I don't know. But if I could go home with you, I think I would feel a whole lot better."

He smiled back at her and nodded. "So, let's do that. You'll have to talk to Charlie."

"So will you."

Paul made a face. "He doesn't scare me." He grinned at her. "I give good parent. You go have a nice long shower."

"Another one?"

"Just stay out of the way for as long as you can."

"You want to talk to Charlie," she guessed. "Man to man?"

He nodded.

"Okay. If he says 'no', I am going with you anyway."

"He won't say no."


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul got dressed and made his way downstairs. He set up the coffee pot and rattled around in the fridge. He heard Charlie coming but pretended to be surprised when he saw him as he emerged from behind the fridge door.

"Good morning, sir."

Charlie mumbled something unintelligible, then finally got out a surly, "Paul."

Paul decided honesty was the best policy. "I came over last night and stayed with Bella. She was still pretty upset."

"Yeah. Saw your truck."

"She's in the shower now."

"I heard it turn on. I am impressed you got her in there; I couldn't."

"She needed a shower."

"At least she is washing her hair now."

"Thank God. It smelt." Paul wrinkled his nose.

Charlie gave him an odd look. "I thought you were away."

"I was. I came back." Charlie didn't need to know _just_ how far away he had been.

"Right."

Paul made them both mugs of coffee. "I'll cook in a minute. Can we talk, first?"

"Sure," Charlie agreed. He gave him a look. "If you can get her to eat, I will be really impressed."

"She'll eat. But what I wanted to say was that I want Bella to come stay with me for a while." He didn't ask permission because Bella was an adult. He also wasn't one for small talk and preamble. He'd just say what he needed to say.

"Uh-huh. A while?"

"Maybe longer."

"Right. Why?"

"I don't think she should be alone. She's not looking after herself properly or eating right. She's lost weight already."

"She's picked at her food for a week now. Since, …you know."

Paul nodded. "And she has no extra weight to lose."

"No. Been thin lately."

That was probably a tiny dig at Paul. He'd suffer that. "Worse since this guy showed up in Leah's life."

Charlie nodded.

"I'll look after her," Paul said. "I know you have shifts to do and responsibilities."

"She can look after herself."

Paul shook his head. "Not this month, she can't. She hadn't even had a shower for how long?" A tiny dig back at Charlie.

Charlie sighed out a breath. "Yeah. Okay. She'll be close to you at work?"

"I'm doing a construction job with Sam on the rez. Won't be more than fifteen minutes away." Two if he ran wolf style. Assuming he got his job back.

"I can't take the time off," Charlie commented.

"No. I just took some time off, but I'll be nearby." If she screamed, he'd hear her.

Charlie sipped his coffee and studied Paul over the top of the mug. "So why are you doing this?"

Paul took a deep breath. He couldn't fall at the first hurdle and Charlie had every right to ask. "I think I messed it up. And I have to help fix it."

"Leah dumped her, not you."

He thought about what Bella had been trying to say. "I left. I kind of dumped them first. Maybe if I hadn't backed off, none of this would have happened."

"The three of you weren't that happy from where I was standing."

"No, that was why I left… but still…" He gave Charlie a piercing look. He suspected that Charlie knew of the wolf pack, but didn't want to blow the secret if he didn't know.

Charlie was evidently very good at reading faces. "I know about the wolf pack. You're one aren't you? And Leah?"

Paul nodded carefully.

"I worked it out ages ago. Billy can lie to me, but Sue can't; not very well. So Leah throwing Bella out has something to do with that?"

Paul felt a twinge at telling him. "It's hard for me to talk about this."

"Secrets."

"Yeah. You know Sam Uley? He and Emily are mates. It's a special wolf thing. What's happened with Leah is like that. Kind of a love at first sight, wolf style."

"Bella doesn't count as a mate?"

"No. And that magic trumps other relationships."

"Ah," said Charlie as if he just worked something out. "Like Sam did to Leah in the first place."

"Yeah."

"Never did understand why Harry wasn't angrier with him, you know?"

"He was on the Council before Sue."

Charlie's eyes narrowed. "Emily's face? It wasn't a bear."

"No."

"Never thought it was." He raised an eyebrow.

Paul squirmed. "Emily rejected him. She told him that if he dumped Leah, he was as bad as his father."

"Ouch."

"In more ways than one. She nearly died." He had an awful thought. And Sam might have died with her, if she had. Fuck! He and Bella had better be totally sure of themselves. They didn't want to kill Leah, just break the imprint.

"You're that dangerous?"

"And that big."

"Well, I'll be… you're the gigantic wolves that Bells said she saw."

Paul nodded.

"Lot of things making sense now. Right. So Leah and Bella were happy, but then this … magic happened."

"Imprint. It's called an imprint."

"You have a plan?"

"Not much of a one." Paul suddenly thought that Charlie dated Sue, he might talk to her. "What about talking to Sue?"

Charlie's mouth twisted. "She's conflicted."

"Tribal Council."

"Yep. She wants to be happy for Leah, but she feels guilty over Bella."

"So she's avoiding you?"

"You got it." Another sip of his coffee. "So any plans you tell me, I promise to keep close to my chest."

"The plan is to make Leah jealous, I suppose."

"See you and Bella together?"

"Yeah."

"Is that dangerous?"

"I don't believe Leah would hurt Bella."

"Right. I'm sure that's what Emily thought, too."

"Yeah. But she'll be safe with me."

"That's why she has to live with you?"

"Yeah."

"That the only reason?"

He stared Charlie straight in the eyes. "No." Paul knew what he was asking. 'Do you care for my daughter?'

"Gotcha." Charlie nodded. "So, she is going to fight for Leah?"

"With my help, maybe."

Charlie nodded slowly. "Okay. That'd be good. She's not one for fighting. She stays very constant to something, often not in a proactive way. But you're a fighter, Paul. Always have been."

"Even when I shouldn't have been."

"Sometimes." Another sip. "I was sorry to hear about your mother, I never said anything before."

"That's okay. Not many people did."

"You know, part of her issue was that she didn't fight for things, either. If she had fought for you? She might have got herself cleaned up; got off the drugs."

Paul snorted. "Or taken me down with her."

"No. I disagree. I remember when you guys came back here."

Paul trusted his instincts and he knew he needed something extra for Charlie. "I rang the cops on her," he confessed. 'I was about eight and I just wanted her to be like the other moms."

Charlie stared at him. "Seen it before."

He would have. Paul sighed.

"I talked to Niki recently. He told me that he had just realized that your mother let you go with him, because she thought you would have a better life alone with him."

Paul had never thought of it like that. He looked at him. He took a shaky sip of his own drink to cover his emotions.

"If Bells wants Leah, then she'll need to fight for her." Charlie stood and refilled his coffee. "I'm not much for fighting, either. I let her mother leave Forks and take her away from me, too. Your father did okay raising you. Being a single parent is hard." He chuckled. "Listen to me. I've only done it for two years. Took me almost seventeen years to get her back. And then I nearly lost her."

"I remember. We found her in the forest."

"Was that you? I was a mess. I can't remember."

"And Jared."

"That night." Charlie shook his head. "I've organized searches before, but when it is your own kid..."

"Sam brought her back."

"Makes sense now. The wolf senses. Never could work out how he found her so fast and carried her out. I almost dropped her between the edge of the yard and the house. And then she was just not 'here' for months. Screaming in her sleep." He shivered. "I'm not going through that again."

Paul wasn't sure what to say to that confession, so he went for something innocuous. "She's a good person, sir. She's very like you."

He noticed the 'sir'. "Call me Charlie. She's got my eyes," he said proudly. "Her mother's eyes are blue."

Paul nodded. He loved Bella's big brown eyes. "She may have lain in her bed and cried, but she handled _this_ breakup better than the last one."

"That's true."

"She also has inherited your need to do things by the rules."

Charlie snorted. "You don't know her that well, then. She can break the rules when she wants to." He sipped his coffee, clearly thinking. "She has got to get herself out of this rut and get back into her life. She does that too much. Like when that Cullen boy left."

Charlie gave Paul his laser eyed interrogation glare. "So are you two going to be dating?"

Paul shrugged without answering.

"If you are taking her into your home, then you obviously have some idea," Charlie pressed.

"That should be just temporary."

"I'd like her to stay around here. But La Push is not too far away."

Paul got that hint. Break her heart, she leaves Forks and I'm blaming you. "It might be a bit different," Paul suggested carefully. "It might be her and Leah."

"And you?"

Paul nodded.

"That's a little more different than two girls together, but I reckon most people would cope better with the three of you together. Two girls, they think is weird. I don't, but they do. But if you are around, they won't ask. They will just assume." He gave Paul another look. "Or they will think that you are a lucky man."

"If it works and we get Leah back, I **will** be a lucky man." He didn't mean it the way Charlie had said it and he knew he'd understand that.

"Huh." A pause. "Bells is good for you, too, you know," Charlie added.

Paul blinked. Fuck! There was so much riding on this. If Leah didn't come back to them and he broke Bella's heart… "She keeps me human," he confessed.

Charlie was silent, as if he was thinking about it. "Like Sam and Emily. She grounds him."

Paul thought about how Emily was steering Sam now with this imprint objection thing. "Yeah she does. More of an anchor. He can go a distance but he'll always come back to her."

"And this new guy? Is he like that for Leah?"

"I don't think so, haven't met him yet, but I know that Bella was."

"Your human anchor," Charlie said.

Paul nodded.

"And she's lost her right now."

Paul glanced towards the stairs. Charlie saw his eyes move, but he kept talking, "So this new bloke has to go. What's his name?"

"Kirrin. Kirrin Down."

"How long has he been around?"

"I think it is less than a fortnight. He's been in the house for a week."

"Bella's been home for one week."

"What does Sue think of him?" Paul asked.

"That I don't know. She has gone tribal business on me. She has never done that before. Billy used to, but not Sue and not to me." He stood and grabbed the coffee pot. He refilled Paul's coffee. "She is on the Tribal Council but she is also Leah's mother, and I am Bella's father. That puts her in a hard place. What is right for Leah and what is right for the tribe."

"Why can't they be the same thing?" Paul asked.

"True. But I can't say what that is." He sighed. "Her council hat has got her so uptight that I haven't even seen her since Bella moved back."

"Choosing sides?" Paul's head tilted quickly. Listening.

"Yeah." Charlie resumed his seat with a questioning look at Paul.

He made a hand signal to indicate Bella was sitting on the stairs; listening, he assumed.

Charlie nodded to say he understood. He got a wicked gleam in his eye. "So, Paul. You've come here to rescue Bella, carry her off to live happily ever after, with you and maybe Leah as well? Have I got it right?"

They both heard the strangled squeak noise.

Paul glared at Charlie, who just laughed. "Sure, she can go with you. Whatever it is that she needs right now, I don't think her father is it." He stood, clapped Paul on the shoulder. "How about some breakfast?"

"Thanks, Charlie."

"I'll bet you can eat half a pig, like the others." He raised his voice, "Bells!"

"Right here, Dad." She snuck around the corner.

Paul jumped to his feet. "Coffee?"

She hugged him; burying her face in his chest. She nodded against him. He stroked the back of her head with one hand and hugged her tighter with the other. "It'll be okay," he whispered to her.

Charlie had been finding two pans in the cupboard. He stood now, and watched them together. He met Paul's eyes over Bella's head and they nodded at each other. Paul thought that whatever else happened, he had Charlie on his side.


	56. Chapter 56

**chapter 56**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

They left Charlie's place and headed for Paul's house.

"Leave your truck," he told Bella. "I will come back and pick it up later. Are the keys in it?"

"Yes."

It only took him one trip to load all her stuff into his truck; a slightly newer and less battered model than Bella's red beast.

He kept shaking his head as he packed. He was still doing it as Bella clambered into the passenger seat and he started to drive back to La Push. She looked so tiny, hunched down into her seat; huddled into herself.

He noticed. "Sorry, Bella. I'm not angry with you."

"Okay."

He glanced at her and gave her a small smile.

"Leah?" she asked.

"Not even her. Imprinting, I suppose and the situation in general."

"Okay."

"Leah can't help the way she is behaving; she's just not her."

Bella blinked quickly.

"Don't you cry again," Paul warned.

Her lip wobbled.

"I mean it!"

"What will you do if I cry? Throw me out of the car?"

"Atta girl," he said.

"What?"

"Get feisty."

"Oh… I was, too."

"See. You can do it."

"Maybe you are rubbing off on me," she suggested.

He did the double eyebrow raise at her.

She smiled, but it faded quickly.

"Baby steps," Paul told her. "I came back all raring to fix this and I think it might take some time to do. So I feel frustrated that it can't just all be right, right now. That's what I am upset about, as well."

"Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me that."

She stared out the window for the rest of the journey.

When they stopped she looked at his house. It was even more dilapidated than most of the other houses on the reservation. The grass was long and unkempt and there was an obvious bare patch where Paul clearly parked his truck. The house desperately needed a coat of paint. It showed signs of both its residents being away.

"It's not much," he said. They still hadn't got out of the truck.

"That's okay."

Seth bounded out the door of the house.

"What the fuck? He's here?" Paul asked. "He went home to have a sleep, not wait here for me."

Seth yanked open Bella's door. "I knew it," he crowed. "I knew he would go and get you."

"Jesus, Seth. Have you been here all night?" Paul asked.

"No. I heard your truck coming." He hauled Bella out of the cab and hugged her. "I'm so glad he went to get you and now we can start trying to fix this thing."

"Thank you, Seth for going to get him."

"Look, he's a dick, but you both like him. Fuck knows why."

"Watch it," Paul growled at him.

Seth ignored him and hugged Bella again. "What can I do? How can I help?"

Bella sniffed.

"Make her cry and I will punch you," Paul said.

"Sure, sure." Seth sniffed at her.

"Don't say it, Seth." Paul's lip lifted.

"Say what?" asked Bella. Then she realized it by herself. "Oh, he can tell we had sex."

"Ha! She said it. You can't punch me now."

Paul rolled his eyes.

"No, this is good," Bella argued.

"How?"

"Didn't you want to make Leah jealous? Seth can tell her about it."

"That's your plan?" Seth asked.

"Fuck off." Paul said. "We don't have much better right now. At least until we see what a mess Leah really is."

Seth frowned. "Jealousy… it'll work! Make it so!" he declared. "Let me help." He rushed around to the back of the truck, and then stopped suddenly. "Is this it?" he sounded outraged.

"Yep," said Paul.

"Crap, Bells. We couldn't go help you get your stuff because it would have looked like the pack was choosing sides, you know? But none of us had any idea she'd gone this crazy. We have to go over there right now and get the rest of your things."

"No."

"What?"

**"No,"** Bella repeated. "If we leave them in the house, then she can't get away from them. My favorite books. My scent on everything. She can try to deny her wolf, but it's still there and she can't stop that. It'll be full of the reminders of what we used to have together and besides, that is all I took. I just wanted to get out of there."

"The bowl of stones," Paul said.

"Y-yes." Bella sniffed.

Paul hugged her.

"You have to punch yourself in the head now," Seth suggested.

"Go home, Seth."

"Yeesh. Do I have to? Mom's hormonal."

"She misses Charlie. They haven't seen each other for a while."

"Oooh, good point." Seth jigged in place. "Okay, I will go home and spread the good news. See ya, Bells."

He bounded off down the road.

"He makes me feel tired," Bella said.

Paul chuckled. "Yeah. Me, too. You can go back to bed if you want."

"You have some stuff to do."

"Visit Sam. Get his point of view."

"I can't believe they are on our side."

"That one surprised me, too." He hoisted her carton in one hand. "Come on."

She picked up her backpack and followed him into her new home.

"I didn't change the sheets, or clean or anything," he apologized. "I got back, showered and went straight to Forks. I hadn't planned to bring you back with me." That was a small lie - he had taken the truck to Forks for a reason.

"It doesn't worry me. I can't smell anything."

"Yeah, but I can."

"So throw them in the washer; we've got time."

"Okay."

"Put in some white vinegar. It helps to get rid of odors."

"I knew that," he said.

"You did?" She hadn't ever thought of Paul as knowing household hints.

"Leah told me you washed the sheets with vinegar after we had sex that first time." His face looked concerned as if he was sorry he had brought up the touchy subject of Leah.

"Oh, yes. I did." She looked at him. "We probably should have done it here, in your house."

"Yeah, I only thought of that later, myself."

"You're not perfect, Paul."

He gave a derisive snort.

She noticed the photos on the mantelpiece. She ran her fingertips slowly down the glass on the shot of her and Leah together.

Paul watched her carefully.

"We had something," she said.

"And we will, again."

"I need to talk to Sam, tell him I'm back."

"Fetch the red truck."

"Yeah."

"Get your job back."

"Yep."

"He offered it to Kirrin."

"My job? What the fuck?"

"He didn't take it - he doesn't do manual labor, Seth said."

"This guy is a first class fuckwit. Great way to repay Sam and Emily for offering him a place to stay."

"I know - but I was glad he didn't do your job. It seemed wrong."

"Cool. What are you going to do? Have you left Newtons?"

"I took some leave, but it was really sudden. I might need to crawl a little, but Mrs Newton likes me."

"Do that. You are not sitting around the house all day doing nothing."

"Pfft, listen to you."

"Watch it, girl." He kissed her quickly. "You sure you'll be okay?"

"Yes."

* * *

Sam seemed to have his phone turned off, so Paul rang Emily to find out where he was. Emily was so pleased to hear from him. "You're back?"

"Yep."

"Oh, thank goodness. I mean, Sam said he knew you and Seth were coming, but I didn't want to let myself believe it, until I heard from you."

"Emily, is she that bad?"

There was a pause. "Yes."

"Shit."

"She's almost unrecognizable."

"It's not your fault."

"I don't know what to do… and if Bella hadn't been trying so hard to get her back into my life… she wouldn't have been here for lunch and it would never have happened."

"Emily Uley. You listen to me," he chided her. "You are the best alpha's wife you could be. You have Sam on the right path now and you need to forgive yourself. It was an imprint. It wasn't your fault. Even Sam wasn't your fault. I was phased then and I know it damn near killed you both to reject him."

She took in a shaky breath. "Thank you, Paul."

"I helped make this clusterfuck and I am going to help fix it. Not that I have any idea how."

"Maybe we could do an intervention? If everyone got together… oh, I don't know."

"That's a good idea. But she'd need a really good reason to go. Sam can't order her and we couldn't ask the pack to kidnap her."

"Kirrin annoyed me before the imprint, but now…" Her voice dropped, "I feel like asking Sam to smother him in his sleep."

He chuckled. "Well don't, he'd do it for you."

"He would, too."

"Bella wanted to stab him."

She laughed. "How is she?"

"I've picked her up from Charlie's and she's staying with me."

"Is she all right?"

"She's stronger than she thinks she is."

"I'll go visit."

"Cool. Don't expect a cup of tea, there's no food in the house."

"Perfect. Nate loves outings. He and I can take Bella to the store."

"Thanks Emily."

* * *

He pulled up at the building site and he saw Sam's head lift. He dropped everything and ran over to hug Paul.

"Fuck me," said Paul. "I get it; he's horrible." He thumped Sam hard on the shoulder.

"Leah worries me, too."

"Gotcha."

"I was in a panic. Thought Seth would never find you."

"You panicking? Sam. You?"

"Fuck. I know. Jake asked me if I was doing the right thing." Sam looked distraught. "It's Leah, Paul."

"I know. I told Emily it wasn't your fault and I'll tell you the same."

Sam sighed. "Can you work?"

"I can start now if you need me. I just happened to bring my tools."

"I need you."

"Cool. Let me text Bella."

* * *

That night, Bella lay in bed on the freshly laundered sheets and watched Paul do what was clearly his normal bedtime routine. He was actually wearing a pair of boxers and nothing else; but even so. He had put clothes on for her. She had the sheet tucked up to her chin.

He glanced at her. "Stop it!"

"Stop, what?"

He crawled up onto the bed from the foot. He hovered over her with a look on his face she couldn't begin to describe. He almost looked annoyed. Was he annoyed with her?

"I'm sorry, I am in your house," she apologized.

He frowned.

"And you have to wear clothes and everything," she blustered.

"That's not it."

"Oh… okay." She waited. "So what is it?" she asked, when he hadn't continued.

"It's you."

"What did I do?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"It's you; Bella Swan."

"Me?" she squeaked.

She waited.

"No one else in the entire world looks at me the way that you do."

"Oh… okay." She shifted underneath him. "I don't think that is such a bad thing."

"No. I disagree. It's not okay."

"Why? I don't know what you mean."

"You, Bella, look at me as if I am your hero."

She waited for him to continue. She thought he might get to it if she stopped interrupting him.

"And I'm not your hero. No one else looks at me like that and it makes me feel…" He searched for a word. "… squiffy," he finished.

"Squiffy?"

"You know, where you get all tied up inside and it doesn't feel right. Your gut feels weird."

"Oh, I know how that feels. That's how I get when I get anxious about stuff."

"Right."

He still hung above her, unmoving.

"But-" she started to say.

"No," he said.

She frowned at him and then spoke quickly; running the words all together so she could get them out before he stopped her. "But-you-are-my-hero."

He sighed. As if by her managing to say it, it couldn't be taken back.

"I'm not," he argued.

"You are," she insisted.

He huffed out an annoyed breath.

"I am ordinary," she said. "Human, breakable and normal."

"Very breakable," he added.

"Not with you," she countered.

"But I could break you. With one hand."

"But you don't! And that's it. Don't you see? You guys are protectors. You are all so strong and so powerful and so fast and you make me feel even more weak and human than I normally do. You and all the other pack members. You kill vampires. You are all like my very own superheros. My X-men or whatever."

He was just looking at her.

"With fur," she added as an afterthought.

"Some of the X-men had fur."

"I didn't know that."

"And see! There's the problem! Right there. You make me want to be a better person."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's not me."

"Well, clearly it is," she argued. "Because you recognize it and it matters to you. If you didn't care anymore, then you wouldn't give a fuck about it. That's how you would say it," she added quickly, before he teased her about swearing.

He teased her anyway. "Did you just swear?"

"It's you; you're a bad influence on me," she sulked.

There was silence; each thinking.

"I fucked it up with Leah," Paul said.

"I know, but you came back all this way and you are trying to fix it. And we all fucked it up. I pushed her into a relationship that she was very clear to say that she didn't want. But she did it for me. Imagine how that makes **me** feel."

"I just treated her like a wolf. I thought sex would fix it. And I just kept making it worse."

"Sex fixed it temporarily; like a band-aid. But you asked her what she wanted, didn't you?"

"Yeah and she'd say 'hard'; she wouldn't let me be soft with her."

"So she messed up, too. And she can't be herself if she hates her wolf."

"I know that, but I didn't try hard enough to help her, I just took her at her word and ramped it right up. The alley sex? I should have kissed her in the damn grocery store and left it at that. In front of fucking Gemma. Not fucked her so hard in a stinking alley that I even freaked out Quil."

Bella blinked.

"It wasn't that bad," he argued quickly.

"Did she stop you?"

"No."

"Did you know if you'd hurt her?"

"Physically? Of course. I fully intended to be a foot away from her at the first pain spike."

"So what else could you have done?"

"I dunno. She gave me such mixed signals."

"She's not whole."

"Yeah. I suppose. Some days her wolf gets the upper hand."

"Like with you."

"Yeah."

"You haven't seen her since you came back."

"I'm not sure I can. My wolf will claw out my insides if I get close to her."

"Oh, Paul. He misses her, too."

"Yeah." He studied her face.

She stared back at him. "Are you coming to bed? Or are you going to plank there all night?"

"I could, you know."

"I know. But where's the fun in that?"

He laughed. "Aah, Bella. I did miss you."


	57. Chapter 57

**chapter 57**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Jake had a girlfriend, but he seemed to think that Bella was single and that he could be in her life again in some way. She had turned him away when he came over to Charlie's, when she was hiding in her room, but she did need to face him. Paul had told her that Jake was thinking of her and she was not going to lie around and let things fester, and in one sense, her misaligned relationship with Jake was one of those things. She loved Jake, but she had just never loved him like that and she had thought that he had got the message. Paul had said that Jake wanted her to fix him. Maybe that was right, too.

She was happy to be friends with Jake, but that was all. And she felt that right now, they needed that space.

But in any case, as a friend, she needed to tell him about her new situation and she didn't want Paul there. It was her decision and she could do it alone. Sooner rather than later.

She snuck out of the house and walked over the next morning. Paul was off somewhere. He didn't have work, so she thought it was wolf related and in the chaos of yesterday they had forgotten to get her truck. Luckily Jake was at home. If he hadn't been there, it wasn't a wasted walk, she needed the exercise, she had spent too much time slothing and mourning. She would have just turned around and gone back. She thought she almost might have been happier to do so than face Jake.

Jake was in the garage. She took a deep breath. She could do this.

When she knocked on the door, he moved in that freakily fast way they all had sometimes, and he grabbed her into a rib crusher hug. "You came," he whispered into her hair. He put her down hurriedly.

"Jake, we need to talk."

"Uh, oh. That's your serious face."

"Yes, I suppose it is." She huffed out a breath.

"Bells-"

She held her hand up. "Please Jake, just let me talk."

He nodded, but he looked doubtful.

"Okay," she said. "I know Leah has imprinted and that he is the most important thing in her life right now, and you have a girlfriend."

Jake frowned a little. "So?"

"And so do I. I am kind of with someone."

A deeper frown, and then his brow cleared as he worked it out. "Paul," he breathed. "You reek of him. Again."

She probably did.

"So he's back? And just like that you're back in his bed?"

"Don't be like that."

"It's Paul," he repeated as if he didn't understand it himself. "Have you got yourself tested?"

"Jake-"

"Oh, please, Bells. You know what he's like!"

"He's slept with other women; I know that."

"Isn't that why you chose him?"

"Why we chose him? Yes, Leah and I chose him." That was a small lie; Leah had done most of the choosing, but she had known who Bella wanted.

Jake's voice shook a little. "You chose him over me?" He sounded wounded.

She nodded. "I've said it before Jake and sometimes you just don't listen to me; no offense, but it's just not you." That was harsh, but he really wasn't listening to her.

"What? And it's Paul? You'd prefer that to me?"

"That? Him," she corrected. "He knew what he was doing and he's different with me," she argued.

"What? Is that why? Because I was a virgin?"

Bella struggled to think. She always seemed to hurt Jake when she didn't mean to. He made everything about him and it really wasn't. "I'm sorry, Jake. I don't know how to explain it."

"You want him?"

"I did then and honestly, I still do."

"Does he know that?"

"Of course he does. He came to see me and…" She stopped.

"You're still at Charlie's?"

She shook her head. "I was… "

Jake looked confused.

She knew she was explaining this all wrong. She took a deep breath, and looked up at his face. "I am living with Paul. I moved there last night. I wanted you to know. That's why I came here to talk to you."

"He went and fetched you."

"Yes."

Jake studied her. She knew she looked better presented already; Paul had made her wash her hair for a start. She was dressed and she was outside. It was the first steps out of her depressive state. And she was facing her demons, even if they were still half in love with her.

"I just don't do it for you," he said, as if he was just working that out now.

"No. I don't know why. I think maybe because I have known you for so long. I like you a lot, Jake."

"I'll always be the sandpit kid."

She smiled sadly. "Yes, something like that. I am sorry."

He reached out and touched her hair. "You don't want to be with me."

"Not like that… you know. Sex. I can't…" She shook her head and stopped talking.

There was silence for a little while.

Bella broke it, "And now you have a girl and she's really sweet."

"She's a lot of things, but sweet isn't one of them."

Jake glanced towards the street as if he had heard something that Bella couldn't hear.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He looked at her seriously. "He's here."

"Oh. I didn't ask him to do that, I actually didn't even tell him where I was going. I didn't want any trouble."

"I won't cause trouble," Jake promised. "He tracked you here, then. He must be concerned."

Bella nodded. "Maybe."

"That's not like Paul," Jake said.

"I told you - he's different with me."

"Right." For the first time Jake looked as if he actually believed her. She could almost see him wondering how else Paul was different for her.

"You're happy with Lily?" she ventured.

Jake shrugged. "She's great. She's not The One. She's not my imprint."

"No. She doesn't know about the pack?"

"I don't think so."

"So, she's not a keeper?" She remembered Embry saying he had to step away from his girlfriend.

"I don't know. I like her and I don't want to hurt her if I do imprint… but, I don't know if that will ever happen. Are you a keeper for Paul?"

It occurred to her that if Jake could hear Paul outside, then Paul could hear her answer. "Huh. That's fair, I suppose. Honestly? I don't know. I've been at his house for one night, Jake. Maybe you should be asking him that."

"He's different for you, too."

"I suppose that he is."

"And Leah?" His voice was very quiet.

Bella blinked quickly. "I miss her," she confessed. "And I would love to have her back in my life, but I don't know what to do."

"Oh, Bells." He hugged her impulsively. "I'm sorry I am being such a dumbass."

She hugged him back. "It's okay. I'm sorry it just didn't work out between us."

He smiled. "We never really tried. We are young. Dad keeps saying things like that; 'you've got a whole lot of living to do.'" He imitated his father's voice as he said it.

Bella smiled. "I like that. It sounds very positive." She glanced towards the garage door. "I had better go. Is he still there?"

Jake nodded.

When she got outside she could see Paul. He was picking up pebbles from the road, and bouncing them in his palm. He would throw them up and down in the air a couple of times and then toss them far into the forest. If he was nervous, then he was moving; never could stand still.

"You'll brain a squirrel," Jake said.

"Yeah, probably." Paul looked at Bella. She was starting to recognize his worried face; he got a little pinched around the eyes. Gosh knows what he thought she had gone to do.

"I'm okay," she said quickly. "I just came to chat to Jake."

He nodded. "You walked."

"Yes. My truck is still at Charlie's. I'm sorry I didn't think to leave you a note; I'll do that next time."

Another nod. He and Jake exchanged a look that was incomprehensible to her. She got the idea that Paul showing up to check on her had impressed Jake somehow.

"See ya, Bells." He hugged her again.

"Thanks, Jake."

She and Paul walked off. She turned and waved to Jake; he was watching them walk away together. They continued on silently for some distance.

"You okay?" Paul asked.

She nodded. "You?" She reached for his hand and held it.

"Am now."

"I didn't mean to worry you."

"You don't need my permission to see Jake."

"No, but I didn't know you would be worried. Next time, I promise to tell you or leave a note or something." She wanted to keep holding his hand.

"Write 'gone to fuck Quil'," he quipped. "I'll know that's a lie."

She laughed. She knew it was his attempt to lighten things up. "No, silly." She stopped walking and touched him gently on the arm. "I've got you for that."

He almost looked confused by the thought. Or astonished. As if it was a surprise to him as well. He turned to face her. "Yeah," he agreed. He touched her cheek with his fingertips. She looked up at him, and then stretched up on her tiptoes.

He knew she was angling for a kiss. He wasn't usually into public displays of affection but he knew she was fragile this week, so he obliged.

He kissed her; standing at the side of the road in the middle of the reservation.

And it felt good. So good that he didn't notice Seth was watching them from the nearby forest.

Paul held her hand, just as she wanted, and they walked the rest of the way back to his place. He had to adjust his stride to keep pace with her short little legs, but he did that, too. He squeezed her hand. "Hey, you wanna go to bed when we get home?"

"For a nap?" she checked.

He shrugged. "Whatever you want."

"I sleep better after sex," she suggested.

"Yeah? Me too."

He laughed and kissed her again.

For just a second they were happy. Until they both thought of Leah.

* * *

Exhaustion. Leah felt so tired. Her bones ached. Her heart ached. She had been through so much in the last year or so. Too much.

Death, fear, terror, vampires for fuck's sake. Love, sex, emotion, loss, funerals and tears in the rain. Even forgiving betrayal took a toll.

She had lost her self. She became a supernatural creature half the time. A wolf. It wasn't normal. It was beyond freaky. It was on some new plane all by itself. She was the only female and she was so alone. Her pack didn't respect her. She had no friends left. And she had broken the ones who loved her.

She had whatever the opposite of the Midas Touch was. Everything she touched became broken and ruined.

She hated her friends, destroyed her family and hurt the ones she loved.

It was too much for one girl to deal with.

She had always tried to fix things herself. She thought that all her problems stemmed from the wolf, so she had tried to get rid of it. She thought that would fix it. She had been okay for a little while. She and Bella had been almost back to normal and then she had imprinted.

When she saw Kirrin it was as if she lost even more of herself. The cords that bound her to him when they imprinted, weren't beautiful light silken gossamer threads. They were heavy, ugly bindings of such burdensome weight that she could not fight them off.

Everything in her whole existence was now linked to him. Maybe if she hadn't already been so emotionally exhausted, she could have fought harder. But she couldn't fight at all. They poured down on top of her and she fell. Driven to her knees under the unbearable weight. Now she understood how Sam had found it so hard to deny Emily.

She imagined herself shrugging them off… but it was just that… a fantasy.

Most of her extraordinary strength was caged with the wolf.

Now, she couldn't reach her. She couldn't phase. She'd tried. Initially she had locked the wolf up, so petrified that if she let it out, she would run to Paul. Wherever he was. Her wolf could have found him anywhere on earth, she thought. So she had locked her in so hard, that now she wasn't able to let her out.

Or maybe her wolf hated her now, nearly as much as she had hated it before. She didn't know how to apologize. She couldn't talk to her anymore. Not that she ever had that much. But she had known the wolf's feelings and now she couldn't hear her.

She had broken Bella's heart. After everything else that had happened. She thought that the best way to deal with it was to drive Bella away too.

Like Paul.

She hadn't even gone to the scattering of his mother's ashes.

She couldn't deny Kirrin and he seemed to know that. Being near him was the only respite she had from the imprint burdens. She could breathe easier near him, but even that made her feel sick to her stomach. Her mouth full of the bile of betrayal as she kissed him.

She used to talk to Bella. She used to talk to Paul. Now they were gone. Seth had a go at her. **Seth**. The only person who had fought for her before. Now he was on Bella's side. And that was okay with her. Bella needed someone on her side. Seth was initially angry with her and then he was gone, too, on some secret wolf mission that she couldn't know about because she was no longer part of the pack.

She didn't fit _anywhere_ anymore.

Kirrin didn't like Bella and he made that very clear.

When Leah didn't cling to Bella, Bella didn't fight for her. Bella thought this was her chance to be happy and she had kissed her on the cheek, packed a tiny carton of her belongings and walked out.

That had destroyed Leah even more. Nobody loved her enough to fight for her.

She felt numb.

She was barely managing to exist. She felt like curling up and going to sleep and never waking up. All she had now was Paul's old hoodie that Bella had worn for a while. She slept alone in their bed with her arms wrapped around it. Hugging it to her. Kirrin stayed at the Uleys at night, after spending all day with her. She wasn't sure that she wanted him in their bed anyway.

As it was, their home was full of reminders of them both and it killed her a little more every day.

And then she heard the gossip.

Paul was back. Back for Bella it seemed, not for her. So maybe he had got what he always wanted, Bella? Not her.

Bella moved into his house. Paul was back in the pack. No problems phasing for him or his wolf. He was virtually Sam's second now. Embraced by the pack that no longer had a place for her.

She wondered what her place was. She had heard the rumors of Kim's opinion. All she was good for was breeding the next generation of wolves. And the wolf gods must have chosen Kirrin. She wasn't sure why. But she felt incredibly fatalistic. It was the will of the gods and she no longer had any reason to fight it. Everything kept snowballing and burying her deeper.

* * *

She kept on at the garage even though Kirrin didn't like her working there. He went in one day and saw how the male customers looked at her. The job was all she had left. She fought for it. She argued that he wasn't working and that they needed her income. He left in a huff.

George said, "I think he should be pleased. He's got the best looking girlfriend in the region."

"Fiancée," Leah corrected.

George looked perturbed. "Leah? Are you sure about this?"

"No," she whispered.

"Gets away on ya sometimes, eh?"


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

The next time Leah and Seth were together, Seth started talking about Bella.

"Bella's fine," he said. It wasn't entirely true, but he knew their strategy.

"Fine?" Leah queried. She couldn't help herself asking.

"Yeah. Good, even. I saw her kissing Paul in the middle of the rez yesterday."

"You saw it?"

"Sure did."

"There they were," he deliberately continued, "Standing by the edge of the road, just near that old abandoned kiosk. You know the one…" He prattled on for a while, describing the scene in intricate detail. Way more detail than it needed.

Leah stared at the floor and sighed heavily.

* * *

Later that night, Paul and Bella were talking.

"I'm glad you worked it out with Jake," Paul said. "It sucked to keep shit secret from him."

"You tried?"

"Yes. To protect you."

"Thank you. But you didn't need to do that. Wait a second, it was harder than with Sam? But Jake's not the alpha."

"No. Not yet. But he's the true alpha. It gives him some kind of wolfy mojo."

"Oh, okay. The true alpha?"

"He's supposed to run the pack, but I don't think he wants it."

"Why do you say that?"

"He hasn't accepted it yet, and he steps back at meetings. He lets Sam make the decisions."

"Oh."

Paul grinned at her. "I could still do it. It was just harder."

She chuckled. "You're a special wolf, you know."

"Yes, I am." He laughed.

Bella bit her lip. She was thinking of another special wolf.

"I miss her, too." Paul knew her thoughts.

"How do we break the imprint?"

"Emily suggested an intervention."

"That would work."

"But we need her to attend voluntarily."

"She's hard to force."

"You got it. She'll need a good reason."

"And I'm not enough?"

"Bella, you let her go. Remember?"

"I never thought of that. Oh, my god."

"Shhh, don't panic." He tightened his arms around her and held her tight. He whispered to her that they would fix it.

* * *

A strange car pulled up at the gas station the next day. George was on driveway duty. Leah was out the back pulling tires off rims; no one else did it as well as she did. Though she whined about breaking her nails occasionally.

The driver seemed odd to George; he couldn't say why. Something about his odd eye color and the paleness of his skin. It reminded him a little of the Cullen family, but it wasn't a Cullen. Not one that he recognized anyway.

The guy watched him fill the tank and then he asked, "Do you know a girl called Isabella Swan?"

George knew her. He couldn't have said what it was that made him lie, but he was leery of strangers. "I don't know the names of the young people in town, but my office girl might."

The guy nodded.

"I could go ask her for you?" George suggested. He didn't want this guy in the office. "I'll be right back."

The guy got back in his car to wait and that seemed odd, too.

George tried not to hurry out the back. The smell of rubber was everywhere. "Leah," he hissed.

She took one look at him and bristled. "What?"

"Weird guy - asking about Bella."

"Weird how?" She put down the tools she was using.

"I'm not sure… he just makes me feel …sick. He's got odd eyes. Like the Cullens."

"The Cullens? Are you sure?"

"Yes. He gives me the creeps."

Leah sniffed at George and then emitted a noise that sounded mostly like a growl. She couldn't phase, but she had to deal with this now. Before it got out into Forks. And it was looking for Bella. Bella. She'd risk dealing with it human for Bella. "Lend me your shirt."

George blinked but took off his old checked shirt without asking. He stood there in his undershirt.

"Close your eyes," she ordered.

He did.

Leah whipped off her t-shirt and bra and then put on George's button up shirt. She tied the ends under her breasts and showed an awful lot of cleavage.

George manfully tried to look elsewhere.

"Distracting enough?" she asked.

"Boy howdy," he said.

"Good." She started to walk towards the drive.

George followed her and watched.

She sashayed out to the car; swinging her hips as she walked. She looked around; up and down the road as she approached the vehicle. He glanced around as well. There wasn't anyone else on the road. He couldn't have said how he was going to help, but he just had a feeling that he didn't want to leave her alone.

She leaned down to the window; her displayed assets front and center.

And then, in a movement too fast for him to see, she reached in the window and twisted the guy's head off. One second she was leaning down looking provocative and the next she was dashing to the old oil drum that they sometimes threw trash in, with a head in her hands. Truthfully, they burnt some stuff in that drum. Leah was palming a lighter from her pocket. She held the head by the hair and set it on fire, before dropping it into the drum.

He was frozen; literally unable to move. He just couldn't process what he was seeing. Flames leapt up from the drum and they were … purple. And a head should not catch on fire like that either. What the fuck was going on?

He shook his head and took a step towards the vehicle. Leah was back there now, dragging the torso out and it appeared to be fighting her. How? It just had its head ripped off? And weirder still, there was no blood. Just a silvery liquid that looked like mercury.

"No!" she shouted at him. "Stay where you are!"

He'd seen some crazy stuff during his military service. But he had never seen a girl tear a body apart with her bare hands before. And then she fed the body parts to the flames.

Within minutes, as if the purple smoke had called him like an old fashioned message signal, her brother, Seth came sprinting out of the forest.

"What the fuck, Leah?" he demanded.

She was just staring into the drum. "It asked about Bella."

George noticed the 'it'.

Seth looked up at George's shocked face. "You okay?" he asked.

He nodded, but he really wasn't. He was still standing almost as far away as he could get from Leah; she had really frightened him. "W-what w-was that?"

Seth glanced at him. "I have to ask if I can tell you."

"Secret?"

Seth nodded.

"Can you phone? I'd like to know now."

"That seems fair."

George jigged his head at the office. Seth jogged over to use the gas station phone. George wondered who he was asking permission from. Leah seemed to snap out of her reverie and reach for her own phone, but Seth was already talking into the receiver. She put it away again.

"Should you phone Bella?" George suggested carefully. Seeing as how she had it out. It made sense to him that she should check if Bella was all right. Whatever the heck that thing had been; it was looking for her. "Might have had a friend."

She shook her head. "She'll be guarded." She blinked. "Paul," she said as if she was talking to herself.

"Leah?" he asked. He finally worked up the courage to step closer to her. He leaned around; trying to see her face.

"Kirrin doesn't want me to work here," she said. It sounded almost conversational. As if she wasn't standing over the burning remains of … whatever it was.

He thought he understood what she meant. If she hadn't been here, that thing would still have been looking for Bella or asking someone who would say where she lived.

"You're making a mistake marrying him," George said. He'd always thought that. "It's too quick for one thing and I don't understand that homosexual thing but I just know you love that girl. Dammit, Leah, you just ripped a guy's head clean off for her."

She didn't reply, but he heard her breathe; a harsh, gasping breath.

"If that don't tell you what's what, I don't know what does. And that Kirrin guy?" He was on a roll now; call it a stress reaction. "What does he do? Does he work? All he seems to do is step in and tell you what to do. He don't like you the way you are. He seems set on changin' ya into someone else and that ain't never gonna work."

"That is the most words I have ever heard you say," Leah commented.

"It don't matter what I say. Were you listening? That's the important part."

Seth had stopped moving; he was looking between them with an odd look on his face.

"So?" George asked him.

"It was a vampire."

George swallowed suddenly.

"Vampire," he repeated slowly.

Seth nodded.

"And you?"

"Shape shifters. Wolves."

George nodded. "Ah." He paused. "Think I need a bourbon now."

"And for the record," Seth added. "I agree with you about Kirrin."

Leah rolled her eyes again and then handed her phone to Seth. "Call Paul."

"Crap. Do I have to? He'll flip."

"I'm not doing it," Leah insisted.

Seth groaned.

* * *

Bella could tell from the look on Paul's face when he came running into the store, that it was not good news. He was so flustered that she actually saw him first. "Paul," she said quietly and instantly he turned towards her.

He tried to wipe the emotion from his face but she had already seen it. Her hands were shaking by the time he got to her. She was supposed to be pricing shoes.

He hurried to her; almost too quickly.

His hands reached for hers and squeezed them gently.

"Who?" she asked. She thought someone had been hurt.

"No." He shook his head. He looked grim. "You."

She went white. "A-again?" she managed to say.

"I know, right?" He tried to smile.

"Where?"

"The gas station."

"Is she-"

"Leah's fine," he interrupted. "She took care of it, but it was asking after you."

"That c-close?"

"Too close."

"How?" _How did it get past the patrols?_

He understood what she meant. "Just drove in."

"Holy crow. That would work."

"I'm staying with you."

"Yes." She hugged him. "I'm glad."

He sat on the stool for trying on shoes and watched her putting in price labels on the shelves and tidying stock.

After a while, Mrs Newton came over and asked, "Bella, why is your boyfriend in the store?"

Paul stood quickly. "Bella has a stalker, Mrs Newton," Paul told her. "I just want to know that she is safe, and I can escort her home." He gave her his intense look and whatever protest she had been going to make never came out of her mouth.

She put her hand over her heart. "Oh, that's awful."

Bella made a face at Mrs Newton as if Paul was exaggerating. "I'm sure it won't be for very long," Bella said hopefully.

* * *

George sat at his battered old desk with a diminishing bottle of bourbon and a glass, and watched a succession of Leah's friends come through his gas station. All male. He didn't know why he had never noticed it before, but they were a unit.

Sam was clearly the leader and that Jacob boy had grown a few more inches since the last time he had seen him, and was now officially giant sized. He must be six feet seven at least. He seemed to be some kind of leader, too. At least, they all deferred to him, as well. Jacob thought to tell one of them to drive the guy's car away. He sincerely hoped the keys weren't in his pocket. Leah had burnt everything.

Jacob looked at George with a question on his face and George nodded. He wasn't gonna tell anyone. As if anyone would even believe him.

Leah scrubbed her hands in the sink for too long, as if that silvery stuff had burnt them, or maybe she just hated it. Or hated herself. It seemed very Lady Macbeth to him.

"Why are they after Bella?" he asked her.

"That is a very long story," she replied.

"One day you'll tell me."

"I wouldn't bet on that."

"Does Charlie Swan know about all this?"

She nodded. "Probably some of it. He dates my mother, don't forget."

"How old is that guy?" he gave a head nod towards a smaller guy; not that any of them were technically small, he was just small**er**.

Leah rolled her eyes and glared at poor Brady. He made a startled squeak noise and tried to get out of her sight.

"Thirteen," she hissed. "No wait, he might be fourteen now."

"Whoa."

"Yep."

Sam came into the office. "You okay?" he asked George.

"Getting better all the time," George said, taking another sip of bourbon. "Numb is good."

"Leah? What happened?" There was no point hiding from George.

"Couldn't phase."

"Might have been a bad idea in any case, but you don't mean that, do you?"

"No." A whisper.

She started washing her hands again.

George made a worried face at Sam.

"Leah?" Sam's voice was so soft. Sympathetic.

"Our mortal enemies," she muttered low and fast. "Its what we are supposed to exist to kill and I couldn't do it, Sam. I couldn't. And it was after Bella."

"Leah, you tore him apart on your own, with your bare hands. The pack needs you." He took a breath. "We want to help. Can we try an intervention?"

"Intervention?"

Sam wasn't sure that this would work, but she had the impetus now. This wasn't just about imprinting anymore. "The pack will help you try to let your wolf out."

When she didn't answer him, he turned the faucet off. He touched her very gently; a tiny stroke down her arm. "I can't order you, but you need our help." He grabbed the hand-towel and wrapped her shaking hands in it.

"The whole pack?"

"Of course."

She shook her head. "I-I c-can't."

"You have to face him sometime."

No response.

And then he played his trump card. "They're after Bella."

She took a shuddery breath.

"I'll do it."


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: here it is - the one we have all been waiting for - it's freaking huge... but if I split, you'll all kill me, won't you?]**

* * *

Emily didn't want the meeting at her house. Perhaps it was memories of Sam phasing too close to her, but she argued that the noise, and she was sure there would be screaming, would wake the baby or frighten him. Sam let her off. Bella said she'd do it at Paul's but she couldn't really cater for the pack; they didn't have much of anything. In the end, Seth offered the Clearwater family home and Sue agreed.

No one wanted the imprints there, just in case there was trouble or explosive phasing, or whatever. Not that anyone really had a clue what was going to happen.

Bella insisted on going. Paul just shrugged and said, "She's not an imprint and the vamps are after her. Best place for her is with the pack."

Bella bristled as if she would take Sam on if he said 'no' and he had to allow it. "Okay, but she stays out of the way."

"Agreed."

"This is not about imprint breaking, this is just about getting Leah to phase."

"Sure," Paul agreed.

Bella held her breath. She and Paul had discussed it and they were sincerely hoping that with the pack and the wolf freed, that something else could happen, too. Paul had not explained that this might even be life threatening for Leah; Bella wouldn't have done it if she knew that. On this, Paul and his wolf were in complete agreement; Leah was theirs.

And they wanted her back. All of her.

Paul was actually glad Kirrin wouldn't be there; he could not guarantee that he wouldn't just tear him apart if he saw him. He held Bella's hand and they walked around to the back of the house. The pack needed space and a modicum of privacy.

The rest of the pack emerged silently from the trees. They all looked serious. Paul stepped away from Bella and joined them. The nine stood there all looking at each other. Each wearing their usual uniform of no shirt and a pair of cutoffs or athletic shorts.

Leah was inside the house with her mother. Sue hugged her and then she opened the back door and walked out into the yard.

Bella wanted to run and hug her, too. Paul caught her eye. She smiled at him. And blew him a small kiss.

Leah looked like she was a puppet. She didn't walk evenly and with her usual grace. Her body jerked as if it didn't belong to her. She looked tired and had great dark circles under her eyes.

Sam put his hand on Paul's shoulder. It had weight. Paul controlled himself. His wolf scrabbled at his insides. He promised it what the fuckever it wanted to hear, to calm down. Do NOT lose it now.

Paul nodded to let Sam know he was okay. It was the first time he had seen her and now he knew why everyone was so worried about her. She looked ill.

She looked up and took a deep breath. She deliberately avoided looking at Bella and Paul. She stared at Seth.

"What do I need to do?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Sam spoke. He made a motion and the pack all moved into position. "If we just all circle you—"

"Wait!" a voice cried.

"What the fuck," Jared swore. "Kim! What are you doing?"

Kim pushed her way through the circle. She had hold of the shirt sleeve of a confused young man who looked to be in his middle twenties.

"Oh, fuck, no," said Seth.

"Kirrin?" Leah whispered.

Paul gritted his teeth. Bella shifted suddenly and grabbed his hand. She was almost hidden behind him.

"He should be here," Kim insisted. "It concerns him."

"Oh, Kim. You fool." Jared looked so annoyed. "This is about Leah's wolf; nothing else. You should NOT have brought him here."

"Oh," she said. "I thought it was about imprinting."

"I TOLD you what it was about. Are you accusing me of lying to you?"

"No," she squeaked.

"Go home. And take him with you," Jared ordered.

"I-I —"

"Just go!" he cut her off. He looked furious.

"I'm not going anywhere until somebody tells me what is going on," Kirrin demanded.

"It's okay. I'll take him," Leah said. She walked towards him. The pack all moved to let her through.

"NO!" Paul said.

She ignored him. She shook her head mutely; biting her lips together. She turned and stepped towards Kirrin as if to hurry him away.

"**Leah!" **Paul called her name and they could all hear an alpha timbre to his voice.

And it was an order. She jerked to a halt. She looked at him in shock.

"**Come back to us,**" he commanded.

"Us?"

"The pack."

She snorted. "Right." Sarcasm.

"How did he do that?" Jake asked.

"Something to do with them fucking as wolves, I reckon," said Quil.

Sam glared at him.

"What?" Quil asked.

Nobody answered him, but Sam's look berated Quil for breaking a secret.

"I was _right_? Woo hoo. They fucked as wolves. Didn't you?"

Paul nodded.

Leah glared daggers at Quil. "How did you know?"

"I worked it out," Quil stated.

"How did you know?" she asked Sam.

"Paul told me."

She glared at Paul now. "You talked about me to Sam? My Ex?"

"I went to Sam for relationship advice about you. That's how fucked in the head I was over you."

"Whoa!" said Jared. "Wolf sex? Seriously?"

Leah finally nodded. "Yes, we did."

"I don't understand," interrupted Kirrin. "What do you mean you did it as wolves?"

"Had sex. In wolf form," Leah explained for him. "I told you I used to change into a wolf."

His whole face scrunched up in disgust. "But- but that's like bestiality," he said. He sounded horrified.

Leah rolled her eyes. "Hardly, if we were both wolves. Then it was just normal animal sex. It would only be bestiality if one of us was human. THAT we did not do."

"Jeez. Did plenty of other stuff as humans," quipped Quil.

Embry frowned at him. "Not helping, Quil."

"You had sex with him?" Kirrin pointed at Paul.

Paul looked wary; his arms held by his sides looked relaxed, but his fists were clenched and his knuckles were white.

"Relax. It was before you came along."

"But… with him?"

Paul raised an eyebrow. He couldn't see what Kirrin's problem was.

"Yeah!" said Leah. "And with him." She pointed at Sam. "You did know he was my ex."

Sam held his hands up in front of him in a surrender gesture. "Hey, keep me out of this."

"Good Lord! Did you do the whole pack?" Kirrin asked.

"Are you kidding me? Two guys is not the whole pack!"

And a girl," added Quil. "Don't forget Bella!"

Embry shook his head. "Really not helping, Quil

"You had sex with her?" Kirrin asked.

"Christ. Of course, I did. We lived together."

"What? I thought she was like your housemate."

"No. We were lovers. We only had one bed!" Her face was priceless. She couldn't believe that Kirrin didn't know. "You never knew that. Seriously? You couldn't even conceive of the fact that Bella and I might be lovers."

"Had sex with both Paul and Bella AND at the same time," added Quil.

"Shut up, Quil!" from Embry.

Leah's face cleared. "I think that makes it worse. I could understand why you didn't want my lover around the house, but you made me throw out someone that you only thought was my friend."

"Ouch," said Seth.

"Why would you be so frightened of me having a friend?" she pressed.

"She didn't like me," Kirrin blustered.

"And you are so likable," Quil grunted.

Embry just punched him in the face.

"Ouch." Quil grabbed his jaw. "For fuck's sake, Embry. Well, look at him. He's a sexist, old fashioned, small minded jerk. I don't care if she imprinted on him, it doesn't give him the right to treat her like shit. He should be honored to have her. I mean, look at her. She's amazing and she's our only pack female. We should be beating the shit out of him for being such a jerk to her." He paused. "And why didn't you hit me again?"

"You were actually making sense that time, Quil."

"Fuck this!" Leah said. "Why do I always need to air all my dirty laundry in front of the whole pack? Nobody else has to suffer this crap." She looked around at them all. "What business is this of any of you? Kirrin and me. That's all."

"And us," said Paul. "Bella and I get a say, too."

"No. You don't. I've made my decision."

"No. You haven't made a decision. You don't get a choice with imprinting. You've have been forced into a box that doesn't fit you, Leah. But you haven't made a decision." Paul paused. "It's not right." His voice cracked a little on the last word.

Bella finally had the courage to step out from behind Paul. "Please, Leah. We miss you. We need you."

"He's my _imprint_."

"Imprints are important!" Jared argued. "They are necessary."

"To you, maybe Jared," Seth argued.

"Leah, that shit never mattered to you before," Paul pointed out. "Plus, your wolf thinks it already has a mate… me."

"This isn't about Kirrin, OR imprinting," Leah argued. "This was supposed to be about me not phasing."

"Look how angry you are and you can't phase!" Paul shouted at her.

Sam shepherded Kirrin away so that he was behind him.

Sue came running from the house. "What's wrong?"

Leah whirled around. "Get away from me!"

"Leah?" Sue looked shattered.

Leah turned on her mother. "You lied to me!" she screeched at her. "You knew where Sam had been when he disappeared. You knew what happened when he imprinted."

"Honey… what could I say?"

"You chose the tribe over me. Your own daughter!"

"It was the tribal secret. I'm sorry," Sue whispered. She reached out as if to touch her but Leah backed away.

She kept shaking her head. "Dad died. I thought I'd killed him. If you had just told me about the wolves before... I might not have lost my temper. It might not have happened like that."

"I didn't know all the details about the wolves until I joined the Council. Harry was so stressed. I thought it was just his diet," Sue pleaded.

"I couldn't understand why Dad wasn't angry with Sam. I couldn't even bitch to my parents about being dumped, because you both kept saying things like 'he must have his reasons'." Leah looked utterly betrayed.

"I'm sorry," Sue sobbed. Seth put his arm around her shoulder.

Leah looked like a caged animal now; the pack still circled her.

"Should we stop?" Sam asked. He looked very worried.

"No. We finish this now," Paul said.

"What? Why are you following _his_ orders?" Leah asked.

"Come on, Leah. You want your wolf back," Sam cajoled. "We've got vampires to kill."

"They're after Bella, Leah. You know that," said Jake.

Paul stared at her. "Bella needs you."

Seth rolled his eyes.

"But you don't," Leah said to Paul.

A pause. She turned away from them again. Kirrin stepped out from behind Sam as if to grab her arm.

Bella made a small wounded noise. Leah heard it, because she closed her eyes very slowly. Bella was almost hiding behind Paul. Clinging to his arm and peeking around his bicep as if she could not bear to see it and could not bear to look away.

Her presence seemed to push Paul. "I do need you… but not as a wife; not as someone to order around."

Leah looked at him. She looked confused and just the tiniest bit hopeful.

"Be my partner," Paul said. "My lover. My equal."

"P-Paul?"

"My mate. Our mate" His voice rang with authority.

Sam was studying him with an intrigued look on his face.

"I-I c-can't."

"Please, Leah. You're trying to punish yourself," said Bella. "It wasn't your fault that the three of us fell apart. We all had a role to play in that."

Leah finally looked at Bella. "I fucked up. I denied him. You told me that."

"So if you're sorry, tell him now. Don't punish yourself." Bella stepped closer to her. "Tell him you're sorry and come home with us. Please, Leah. You are punishing us all."

Kirrin suddenly realized that he wasn't the 'he' Bella was talking about. He glared at Paul, who winked at him. He made an annoyed huff sound. Bella took another step towards Leah with her hand held out beseechingly.

Kirrin stepped forward and slapped Bella's hand away before she touched Leah.

There was a blur of movement. Seth had grabbed Bella and hauled her backwards out of the way. Leah had got to Kirrin first, but only because she was closest to him to begin with. Paul was shoulder to shoulder with her. They were both growling at him; low and terrifyingly loud.

"Oh, fuck!" said Jake.

The rest of the pack had jumped into wary positions. Sam looked very nervous, but he refrained from ordering anyone. They all needed to sort this out.

"Don't you **ever **touch her again," Leah ground out through her gritted teeth.

Kirrin couldn't answer. He was being held about six inches off the ground by Leah's hand around his throat. She was holding him with one arm. He was starting to gasp and his eyes looked panicked.

Paul stopped growling, shook his head and cleared his vision. He put his hand up on Leah's bicep. He stroked it softly.

She inhaled. A shaky breath.

"Leah," Paul whispered to her; seemingly in no hurry to rescue Kirrin. "Put him down, She-Ra."

"Why?" she asked.

"He has learned his lesson. No point in overkill." His other arm wrapped around her waist and tugged her gently towards him.

Leah blinked. She looked at Kirrin in astonishment, as if she couldn't work out how he had got there. "Fuck. I'm killing him."

"A little," Paul conceded.

She dropped him. Sam caught him before he hit the ground. He took in a gasping breath, clutching at his reddened throat with one hand.

Leah wasn't looking at him. She had turned and was looking up at Paul. "I tried to kill my imprint." She sounded amazed.

"Nah. He's not your imprint." Paul glanced at him on the ground. "At least, not any longer. You scared it out of him." He gave Kirrin a look. "Along with some other things."

Kirrin still looked terrified. He crawled backwards away from Leah. "I do NOT need to be part of this," he turned, climbed to his feet and ran. Leah took no notice of him, but Quil and Embry grabbed him as he went to run away.

"Sit," said Quil to the terrified man.

Paul was still talking to Leah, low and intense, "Leah listen to me - listen to your wolf. You've shoved her off into a box and she wants out."

"She doesn't want Bella. She won't let me have Bella."

"What are you talking about? You don't have Bella now."

"Fuck! It's all my fault."

"Look at you; you're so messed up you don't even know what you are doing."

"He's my imprint."

"This isn't you, Leah. He isn't you. You love Bella."

"The wolf chose him. She doesn't want Bella."

"She'll let you have Bella. She knows that is what makes you happy, but what does she get? She let you have Bella for a long time - until she was frightened you weren't going to give her what she wanted. She's lonely Leah. She wants a male, Leah."

"I know. I hate that."

"Don't hate HER for it. It's her nature. You are punishing her for being a wolf. It is not her fault."

"She killed my father."

"I know. And she made Seth phase and you hated that, too. I know," he crooned. "But think about it. She chose the weakest, puniest, freaking excuse for a human male she could find."

"Hey," objected Kirrin.

"Shut up," said Quil.

Paul completely ignored Kirrin. "Why did she do that, Leah?"

"She's punishing me?"

"No - no she's not. She's trying to smack you in the face with an imprint. She's not stupid. You're Leah fucking Clearwater! You're an alpha female and you're paired with - this?"

They all looked at Kirrin. The obvious damp patch on his jeans where he had pissed himself looked worse now.

"She's given you the easiest imprint to break. If she had chosen one of the other wolves, you would be royally fucked by now."

Quil lifted his hand and opened his mouth. Embry hit him before he said anything about wolves having to imprint the first time they saw someone. The rest of the pack knew to keep silent; Paul and Bella were the only voices Leah should hear now.

"She doesn't want him," Paul crooned, "Who does she want?"

"You - she wants you."

"Why does she want me?"

"Because she thinks you are her mate. In the forest - that time - you fought her and won the right to mate."

Paul blinked. He suddenly remembered that during that wolf sex he had bitten her neck and held her down to fuck her. Had he marked her? In wolf form?

"She wants her mate back," Leah continued.

"You know it. See? You know what she wants. Let her have what she wants."

Leah frowned at him. "This is all about you and what you want," she accused.

"No, it isn't. I left to leave you and Bella together. That wasn't what I wanted and I have tried to leave - twice. I've left when you needed space, but it didn't work. I'm not going to do it anymore, Leah. I'll fight for you. I'll fight _with_ you. But I'm not leaving again. You pushed me out—"

"And you flew back," she said. She sounded astonished. Paul had told her that if they pushed him out of their nest, he'd just fly back.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I want your wolf, but I also want you - the woman. You're a kick ass, fucking awesome woman, Leah. There isn't another one out there like you. I want all of you; not just the wolf. I made the mistake of thinking that Bella was the soft female and you were the hard wolf. You aren't - you're a woman, too. Please, be my woman. I'll bring you gifts every day."

Leah looked touched, but still lost.

Paul stroked her face. "But to do that you have to accept the wolf. She's part of you. Accept her. She's like a part of your personality that you have shoved away and rejected."

"She's angry with me for that."

"She is and she's hurt that you don't want her. But you **are **her. Don't you see? Imagine if you tried to deny the part of you that loves Bella? Which by the way you've done as well. And if you give her what she wants, you can have Bella back, too. Your imprint won't let you have Bella. And you need her. She makes you happy. She was yours first, I know that. I'm okay with that."

"Oh, my God. What have I done?"

"Stop hurting her, Leah. Stop hurting yourself."

Bella said, "Let her out of the box, Leah, please?"

"Bella!" Leah started to sob.

"She's here. I'm here," Paul said. "We'll look after her. We'll look after you. We can all get what we want. My wolf wants your wolf, you want Bella, and I want Bella.

"I want Paul," said Bella, "and I want you. I have really missed you, Leah. Please, let me come home."

"Bella! I kicked you out. What was I thinking? What have I done?"

"**Stop!" **Paul ordered. And it was an order.

The pack shivered at the implied command.

"We aren't doing that now. No blame game. Bella left because she thought the imprint would make you happy. It isn't. It's tearing you apart."

"Let her out, Leah," Bella said.

"I can't!" she wailed. "I can't reach her! I'm stuck and I want to help Bella. I want to stop the vamps." She clutched at Paul. "I don't know what to do. How do you know what do?"

"My wolf is scratching inside me. He thinks you are hurt and he wants to lick it better."

"He does?"

"I'll phase. Right here; right now. We'll let her see him; she might come out if she sees him."

"What if she takes me over?"

"She won't take you over; you're too strong for that. She's safe and her pack is here."

They all tried to say some words of encouragement. For once the pack were solidly behind her.

"Heal yourself," Sam said.

"You can do it, Leah," said Jake.

"We need you," said Jared.

"You're with us, Leah. We'll look after you," said Embry.

"Be the bitch," said Quil.

"Please Leah. I hate this," said Seth.

"You can do it," said Brady.

Leah looked at him. The smallest, weakest one of the wolves wanted her to come back. "I broke your arm."

"I was rude and disrespectful. You're the pack female. We need you."

Collin nodded furiously. "We miss you, Leah. The pack is lost without you. We're so disjointed and fractured. It's like we've lost our heart. We need our alpha female."

Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

"Please, Leah," Collin said.

She looked at them all. They meant it. Their faces shone with sincerity. The pack wanted her. "Okay," she whispered. "I want to try."

"Atta girl," said Paul, as he started taking her clothes off.

"Hey," Kirrin protested. Embry gagged him with a big hand across his mouth.

She gave Paul a weak smile. "I can take my own clothes off, you know."

He grinned at her. "I know." But he lifted his hands away from her.

"Bella?" he called. "Stay safe and out of the way."

Bella stepped back towards Jake. He hugged her against his chest. "I'll look after her," he told Paul and Leah. To Bella he whispered, "It'll be okay. It'll work."

"I don't know, Jake, but I know we have to try; she's almost broken."

Paul stripped and phased first. He seemed to fall forward; the air around him looked like it was vibrating. Halfway to the ground there was a ripping, tearing noise and fur exploded out of him. He turned into a giant, dark silver wolf more than five times his original size.

Kirrin let out a terrified yelp noise. Being told people turned into wolves and seeing it for yourself were two different things.

Paul's wolf stood, trembling; his ears up, his whole face looked eager and invested. He yipped at Leah.

She was still human. Her face contorted as she clearly tried to find her wolf inside her. It looked agonizing.

Another yip from Paul's wolf.

Leah cried out and finally, she managed it. She phased.

Leah's wolf shook her head as if she was surprised and disoriented. She sniffed the air and looked around her.

Paul's wolf snout lifted a little. He took a tiny step towards her and made a low, odd whine sound.

She stood there. Her body tense and trembling.

She howled; a noise of pain and loss.

Paul's wolf answered her.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

…

She moved suddenly and she pounced on him.

They rolled over on the ground together like two puppies playing. The pack dodged out of their way.

"Fuck me," said Seth.

They chuffed and rolled and gnawed at each other's snouts in wolf kisses.

Bella started to cry.

Seth and Jake exchanged a worried look.

"Bella has never met the wolves," said Seth. He looked concerned.

"She met Paul before and it's Bells," said Jake simply. "She has never been afraid of monsters. That's Bella's greatest gift; she accepts everyone for what they are. Even if they do turn furry."

"I suppose. She did date a vampire," said Seth.

"Hey?" she objected through her tears.

The wolves both noticed her tears at the same time and rushed over to her; pressing themselves against her body and reaching over to lick at her face.

"I'm okay. These are happy tears," she told them.

She pushed at them when they threatened to knock her over. She would have fallen except for Jake standing behind her. She hugged them both. "I love you, too," she told them.

Paul's wolf leapt onto Leah and held her down. He bit at her ears, chastising her for being a bad wolf girl. She meekly took her punishment. He let her up again after she had clearly apologized.

They stood there next to each other. They looked like a set of bookends; a matched pair. Both gray, but Paul had silvery tips on his fur and the base of it was darker. Leah was slimmer and finer than Paul. Paul's wolf head rested on top of hers. Their shoulders touched.

The pack made a low odd hum noise; they had an alpha pair.

"Phase back, please?" Bella asked them.

They phased back and Leah threw herself at Paul. He hugged her. They stood there naked and beamed at each other.

"You did it!" Seth crowed.

The pack all let out howls and yips. Kirrin looked more unnerved as the animalistic sounds came out of human throats.

"Where does Bella fit?" Leah asked Paul quietly.

"Where she belongs; right between the two of us."

"Yes."

Bella squirmed out of Jake's grasp and rocketed into both of them. They grabbed her and she squeezed in between them. Paul's long arms went around them both.

"See. She's okay," Paul said. "She's not hurt."

Leah hugged her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she wailed.

Bella wailed back, "I missed you so much."

"I'm sorry, too," Paul said. "I fucked up as well." He hugged the two women.

"All fixed now," Bella mumbled from somewhere between them.

He whispered to them, "I want it all, Leah. I want the strong equal partner who will challenge me and make me fight. And I want Bella to give me a reason to fight. I want to protect her. Look after her."

"I want that, too. She needs looking after."

"And you know what? You deserve it all and you can have it. You earned it."

"And she'll look after us."

He smiled. "Yes, she will."

"We're freaks."

"You told Charlie about human anchors," Bella said.

"Yeah. You're our special anchor. You keep us human." He laughed. "Sam said that it took the love of two women to straighten me out."

"What about the imprint?" Bella asked.

Leah was looking at Kirrin, held between Quil and Embry. She shook her head. "It's gone. I don't understand."

"You broke it. You both had to do it; no-one else could do it for you. You scared him so badly, Leah. He wanted out."

"I hurt Emily," Sam said, almost randomly.

"Yes," agreed Embry. "And if she had wanted to walk away, you would have let her go. She fought to keep you, just like Bella fought to get Leah back."

Sam looked as if he was thinking about it. "She refused to let me walk away. She made me come to the hospital, when I was in so much pain, I thought I'd die."

"So that meant the imprint still held," suggested Seth. "And it was an accident; she knew that."

"Lucky for me," said Sam. He gave Paul a speculative look. "Maybe it's a kind of a failsafe. No one should have to stay with a partner that they are frightened of. So if they are too frightened, it breaks?" He glanced at Kirrin. "He is Emily's cousin. I had better make sure he gets home okay."

"We'll take him home for you, Sam," offered Quil.

"And help him pack," added Embry.

Quil picked Kirrin up with one hand. "We need to chat. You tell a soul about the pack and we will find you."

Embry closed in on the other side of him. He sniffed at him volubly. "We've got your scent now—"

"And we can find you—"

"Track you down—"

"Wherever you go—"

"Rip you to pieces—"

"Yeah. Like puppy chow—"

"Hide your body—"

"Where no one will ever find it—"

"Unless you keep—"

"Your mouth shut."

Kirrin would have pissed himself if he hadn't already done it.

He nodded furiously. "Yes, yes. I mean no, no I won't tell anyone - never."

"Cool."

Embry put an arm around his shoulder and started walking him away.

Paul and Leah put their clothes back on. Bella hopped in place excitedly.

"Oh," said Paul. He reached into the pocket of his cutoffs and pulled something out. He pressed it into Leah's hand. "For you," he said.

She opened her hand and looked at it. It was a piece of red glass that had been rounded and worn smooth by the sea. She understood. It was an addition to the bowl of stones she had given Bella. She smiled.

"She-Ra?" she asked him.

"It was all I could think of under the circumstances."

"Right. Hey, if I am She-Ra, does that make you battle cat?"

"Watch it woman."

* * *

**[AN: I don't think that anyone should have to be in a relationship with a person who frightens them and I can't believe that the tribal gods would want that either.**

**Pic of Battle cat - I had real trouble trying to think of a pet name that Paul would use for a strong female - there are that few of them that fitted Leah! Even she-ra was a princess in her human form. Wiki page**

**"She-Ra is known for her incredible strength. Many times she has been shown to be able to lift not only full-grown men and robots, but also mountain-like rocks and buildings. Cringer was He-man's pet and he turned into battle cat when he transformed." Maybe she gets to ride him? *winks*]**


	60. Chapter 60

**chapter 60**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah's legs collapsed suddenly and Paul caught her, swinging her up in his arms and carrying her inside. Bella rushed to open the door for them.

Sue's face looked tight and tear-stained, as she watched them. "Is she all right?"

"Just fainted I think. Emotionally exhausted," Paul replied. He laid her gently on the sofa and crouched next to her, watching her carefully.

"Are you all right?" Bella asked Sue.

"What she said—"

"She was just angry," Bella interrupted.

"No. She was right. I never even thought about it before. But she was right. This secret is madness. When she phased she tore the sofa apart just because she was too close to it. As it was, Harry had the heart attack, but that was from the shock of it being Leah and not Seth. We all thought it would be Seth. Then Seth phased and got so panicked, he smashed through the wall of his room because he couldn't get out. And we did make excuses for Sam dumping her. My own daughter." She put her hand over her mouth as if she was going to sob again.

Bella hugged her. "There must be a way we can fix this."

"There is," said Paul. "The charts. We know who won't phase and who may do it, if they carry the right genes. We can do, I don't know, wolf cubs or something. Take them under our wings from age eleven; before they have a chance of phasing. Teach them and their parents the signs to look for, and the importance of the wolf pack. So that IF it happens, nobody dies and nobody gets hurt like Emily or Harry."

"Y-yes." Sue looked stronger already for having a solution. "Thank you, Paul. That is a brilliant idea."

Bella had the 'Paul is my hero' look on her face again.

He rolled his eyes.

Kim came out suddenly from the bathroom with a damp towel in her hands.

"I thought you went home," Paul almost growled it at her.

"I-I stayed. I watched through the window. I had no idea. I didn't know it was like that for you three." She held up the towel. "This is for her, but I understand if you don't want me to touch her."

Paul tilted his head. He looked as if he was weighing Kim. He gave a tiny nod.

Kim started to wipe Leah's tear stained face and then then held the cool towel to her wrists. Her hand was closed tight over the red glass. "Her imprint wasn't like ours, was it?" Kim asked.

"No," Paul replied.

"She wasn't happy."

"No."

"Did she show you? When you were wolves?"

Bella looked surprised. She hadn't thought of that.

"She did," said Paul. "It was not the light golden threads of yours. I saw yours through Jared."

"Of course," said Kim.

"Leah felt it as an enormously heavy weight that suffocated her, and drove her to her knees. She was too weak to fight it off. She hated the people who used to be her friends, destroyed her family and hurt the ones she loved. She wasn't in the pack, so she got no support there. She felt totally alone. Her imprint didn't give her anything except heartache. It felt like chains that imprisoned her."

"Oh," said Kim. She was staring at the towel. "She frightens me. She's so strong and so beautiful. And the way she looks…" She glanced at Paul. "And you guys all see her naked all the time. I was jealous, I suppose."

Paul raised an eyebrow. "We see you naked too, Kim. We know everything about you. Exactly how much clit stimulation you need to come."

"Paul!" Bella chided.

"No. I deserved that," said Kim.

"I will have a word to Jared as well. Imprints are pack, but they are not part of the inner circle. He broke the code and told you stuff that he should not have shared. We all have to share too much. There are some things we should be sure that the pack won't chat about. Other people's sex lives are off the table."

"I-I didn't think about that."

"You're just lucky I've got good control of my wolf. He wanted to tear Kirrin apart just for being there."

Kim put her hand over her mouth. "God."

Paul gave an evil smile. "That would have been fun. Pity."

"I'm sorry," Kim whispered.

Bella took the towel out of her hand. "Thanks, Kim. Why don't you go find Jared, now."

She scuttled out of the house as fast as she could go. She knew when she had been dismissed.

Bella frowned at Paul.

"Hey, you do not want to know what she said about you, me and Leah. Quil might be dumb enough to tell you, but I never will."

"Was it that bad?"

"Small minded, and remember, what she said about the imprint and your reaction to it, was enough to make Emily slap her. Clearly she learned something from that, but not a lot; she still brought the fuckwit here."

"We should get Emily to slap her again."

"Twice," said Paul, "Third time's the charm."

Sam stuck his head in the door. "I thought she went home. How's Leah?"

"About to wake up."

"Good. We'll have a proper meeting when she's awake and when Quil and Embry get back."

Leah's gorgeous eyelashes fluttered. Bella stroked her face and Leah's nose wrinkled. Bella looked at the other two. "What?"

Sam said, "Your hand probably smells like Kirrin."

"Eww." She rushed off to scrub it.

Paul leaned over Leah and kissed her gently.

"Hey." She smiled at him and then her brow creased. "I fainted."

"Yep. Like a girl."

"Pfft," she said, as she sat up a little.

"I saw it," said Sam. "It happened."

"Pictures or it didn't happen," said Leah.

"Stop teasing her," Bella said as she came back into the room.

"Bella!" Leah leapt to her feet to hug her, but promptly browned out and almost fell again.

"Whoa, princess," said Paul. "Slowly."

"When did you eat last?" Sam asked.

"I dunno."

"Sue?" Paul called.

"She's awake?" Sue answered.

"Oh, my God, Mom. I'm so sorry."

Sue hugged her. "Don't you get up. It's okay. I understand and you were right. Things are going to change." She kissed her forehead. "At least if I have anything to say about it."

Leah's stomach growled loudly.

"But let's get you fed first," Sue said. She stepped into the kitchen and started piling food onto a wolf sized plate.

"Call Charlie, Sue. When you get a chance," Paul said.

"Why?" she sounded curious.

"He misses you and he knows about the wolves."

"You told him?" She looked ready to take Paul to task for that. Sam looked sideways at him as well.

"Nope, he already knew."

"I told him I saw giant wolves, ages ago before I knew it was Jake and the guys," Bella explained. "When they saved me in the meadow."

"He's put it all together; he's not a fool," Paul said.

Sue shook her head. "No, he's really not. And he has been asking some odd questions lately."

"Is it okay for him to be here at a pack meeting, Sam?" Bella asked.

"What do you two think?" Sam asked Paul and Leah.

"I took down a vamp in Forks," said Leah. "A public place."

"His jurisdiction," said Paul.

"Okay, then," said Sam. "Call him Sue, and if he's available, invite him over now for the meeting. No time like the present."

"You're sure, Sam?"

"It's his daughter. And his town."

Paul and Bella sat with Leah and let her eat. She ate like a person who had been starving. She wouldn't move off the lounge and eat at the table as Sue suggested. Paul knew why. She had her thighs pressed up against each of them; it was the best physical contact she could get without stopping eating.

He leaned over and kissed her ear. Then he said, very quietly, "We're still here. We're not leaving."

She almost blushed.

Bella was chewing her lip. "Whassup?" Paul asked her.

"Just thinking."

"Uh, huh." He frowned at her. "And?"

"I was thinking about the meadow. Remember that guy?"

"Dreadlock man?"

"Yep. You two were damn chatty." He almost growled at her. "Before we took care of him."

"He had met me before, when I was playing baseball with the Cullens and he had warned the Cullens about James." She unconsciously touched the scar on her wrist. "So I thought he was a friend. But he said something very odd. He said, 'Victoria won't be happy about my killing you, but I can't help myself. You are so mouth-watering.'"

"Mouth-watering?" Paul checked.

Leah snorted through a mouthful.

"He had been living with some friends of the Cullens in Alaska who follow the non-human diet, but he cheated occasionally, he said."

"Okay. And?"

"Victoria was the mate of James. He was killed in Arizona by the Cullens and if she asked Laurent to come and check on me—"

"Spy on you, you mean."

"Yes. Maybe."

"Then he wasn't your friend. He was _**her**_ friend."

"Right. It took me a little while to notice his eyes were red."

Leah swallowed a mouthful. "Does eye colour make a difference?"

"Yes, if their diet is animal blood like the Cullens, then their eyes are golden or they go black when they are hungry. Vampires who kill humans have red eyes."

"Oh." Leah looked slightly panicked. "Shit!"

"What?"

"The vamp at the gas station. He had golden eyes. Crap! I've started a war and I really had this vibe that he was evil."

"It wasn't a Cullen, right?" Paul checked.

"Right."

"They are the only vampires we have a treaty with," Sam said. "I don't care what damn color their eyes are. If they are a threat, we take them out."

"Was he a threat? He was just asking after Bella. I didn't stop to ask why he wanted to know where she lived. I just trusted my gut. Fuck! He could have been bringing her news of…" She stopped talking. She didn't want to say Edward's name. She started eating again, but it looked like she was enjoying it less than she had before.

"Could he have been from this... where was it?" Paul asked.

"Denali, Alaska," Bella answered. "I don't think so. I think they were all women, but I can't be sure."

"What does Victoria look like?" Sam asked suddenly.

"Ah... she's very slight, pale - of course - and she has this long, flaming red—"

"Hair," Sam finished.

"You've seen her?"

"You bet."

"Shit. Her again," said Paul.

"What do you mean, again?" Bella asked.

"We chased her for ages, but then she disappeared for a while just before we caught that guy."

"She sent him. It's the only solution," said Sam.

Bella said, "HE said that."

"So did she send someone else?" Sam asked. "The gas station dude."

"She met the Cullens?" Paul asked.

"Yes."

"So she knew about their eye color."

Bella nodded.

"And that if you saw a golden eyed vamp, you would not be frightened of it."

Bella shook her head.

Paul looked at Sam. "How can we find out if he was her scout?"

"Car," said Bella. "He drove in in a car."

"What did you do with it?" Paul asked. "I wasn't there."

"Dumped it."

"Who dumped the car?"

"Jared, I think."

"He might have had a phone," said Bella. "If they used a car; that's kind of new technology for vampires. You have to understand that most of them are so old, they don't know about tech advances. He might have used a phone."

"Was it in his pocket?" Sam looked at Leah.

She shrugged. "Burnt him all. Wasn't really looking for one."

"You'd smell it burning."

"Good point. That's a 'no' then."

"Jared?" Sam called.

"Yes, Sam."

"What did you do with the car from the gas station vamp?"

Jared got a very odd look on his face. "Aaahh...I..."

Sam gave him a serious glare.

"Kim wanted a car," Jared spoke very quickly, "and it was a perfectly good car. It seemed such a terrible waste to throw it off a cliff or something..."

They all just stared at him. He had not followed an alpha's orders. He may have endangered the pack or Bella. Sam and Paul exchanged a look. It said that they would deal with this later.

"Is it nearby?" Sam growled.

Jared nodded. "Not far. I hid it in the forest. Tore off a few branches to cover it, so the Rangers wouldn't find it."

"Go to it, look for a phone. Do not touch the phone or press a single button on it and bring the charger as well, if it has one. GO!"

Paul watched him go and shook his head. "That girl is leading him around by the dick."

Sam lifted an eyebrow. He had said the same thing to Paul a while ago.

"Hey. I got better!"

Sam ignored him. "What else did dread-lock dude say to you? Anything? I don't remember exactly what he said."

Bella looked down. "He said he had decided to kill me for himself. He said it would be better if he killed me because Victoria was planning to make it 'slow and painful'."

"Shit!" said Leah.

"Christ, almighty, woman," said Paul. "You do need looking after."

Sam guffawed. "You said that, too."

"What?" Paul asked.

"When you asked me for relationship help, you said 'That girl is a magnet for supernatural fuck-ups,' about Bella."

Leah snorted. "Takes one to know one."

"Well, that includes you, too," Paul argued.

"Guess it does. But she is mouth-watering; gotta give him that."

They curled up together on the sofa and waited for Quil and Embry to get back, for Jared to bring the phone and for Charlie to arrive and learn the complete truth about the wolves and his daughter.


	61. Chapter 61

**chapter 61**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

The familiar sound of her father's voice rang out. "Bells?"

"Dad!"

"You okay, kiddo?"

She shook her head. "I'm getting there."

Charlie looked at her standing between Paul and Leah, and nodded. "So where's the fire?"

"Paul said that you know about the wolf pack," Bella said, "and something has happened that you should probably know about, too."

"Right." He sounded very doubtful. "And you are here because?"

Bella bit her lip. "It concerns me… too."

Charlie's eyes narrowed.

Sam rescued her. "We need to tell the whole pack. Out of deference for you and Sue, we will have the meeting human."

Charlie nodded. He was still staring at Bella.

Paul shifted his body and that made Charlie blink. "Leah's okay now," he said.

"That's good news," Charlie said. He looked at the three of them again. He waved a hand between them. "So?" he asked.

"All good," said Paul.

"On the mend," said Leah.

Bella just smiled.

Charlie kissed her forehead. "Good," he grunted.

Sue noticed his arrival. She looked oddly flustered; as if she wanted to hug him and didn't know what to do.

Paul noticed and said, "Why don't we just go outside and get ready?"

Bella wanted to peek at their reconciliation.

"Charlie is cool," Paul argued. "Give him some space."

"Listen to you," Bella teased.

"He's your dad and Sue is Leah's mom. We need to keep them both on side."

"I knew you would have an ulterior motive."

Quil and Embry arrived as they were talking.

Embry interrupted them, "He's gone Leah. Emily drove him to the bus station."

"Oh, thank you, Embry." She blinked quickly. "And thank you, Quil. Even if you are an annoying dumbass." Impulsively, she hugged Quil. He hugged her back. Then Embry insisted on a turn. Jake took a look at Leah and then strode across the gap separating them and scooped her up into one of his trademark rib crusher hugs. She made an 'oof' noise and he laughed. "You sound like Bella." He beamed at her. "Glad to have you back."

"Thanks, Jake."

Then the rest of the pack hugged her as well. Seth's hug was enormous and he whispered something in her ear, as he let her go.

And Leah hugged everyone properly; the girl who had always held herself aloof from them, now wanted to touch the whole pack. They were _her_ pack. For the first time, she actually believed it. She held Brady and Collin both for a long time, until Paul made a noise that obviously indicated his dislike.

He glared at Brady. "Yeah and about that…" Paul picked up Brady by the scruff of his neck. "Mine," he growled at him. "Not yours. You don't touch and you don't look."

"Yep - got it," Brady squeaked.

"Hey!" Leah protested.

"What? You growled at Gemma."

Leah rolled her eyes. "Put him down, Paul." He did and then she hugged him as well. "There. Now you can't be jealous."

"Ooh," said Sam. "Hugs?"

They faltered as they got close to each other but Bella clearly pushed Leah forward and she finally gave Sam a hug too.

Bella made a small happy noise that made Paul smile.

The pack formed a loose circle.

Jared got back and handed something to Sam before taking his place.

Sam cleared his throat. "Okay. Just to bring everyone up to speed. Leah took out a vampire at the gas—"

"Vampire?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah." Sam looked confused. "You knew about the pack, Charlie. **That's** what we hunt."

"By herself?" Sue asked.

"Look," Sam said. "We just need to get this all out and then we might have time for questions later." After some grudging nods, Sam continued. He described the vampire incident at the gas station. "We need to work out who this vamp was and as he had golden eyes, if he was a good guy; a friend of the Cullens."

Charlie's face set and he glared at Bella. She tried to shrink herself down.

"How come you didn't hear or smell him, Leah? I mean he said Bella's name. That ought to have attracted your attention," Embry asked.

"I was around the back pulling tires off rims, so I was winding the jack to break the bead; you know? It was noisy."

"What did George say that set you on edge so fast?" Jake asked.

"George is a Vietnam army vet, he has good instincts, but he said, 'he just makes me feel …sick. He's got odd eyes. Like the Cullens.' I just had a gut feeling that something was wrong."

"But he didn't ask for the Cullens," Jake said.

"No."

"You'd think he'd do that if he was a friend; not ask for Bella."

"Maybe he knew the Cullens had left?" Embry suggested.

"We don't have a treaty with all gold eyed vamps. Why do we care?" asked Collin.

"Look if it was a friend of the Cullens they should have called us to say he was coming to town," Jake suggested.

Sam shrugged. "Billy didn't let me know of any visitors."

"I suppose," Leah said. "But I don't want to start a war with them…" She glanced at Bella. "Any more than I already have."

"Edward's gone, Leah. He dumped me. He doesn't get to say who I date."

"Yeah that leech was just wrong place, wrong time, huh? To run into Leah." Collin sounded like a total Leah fan.

"And about that" Paul said, as he turned on Leah. "What the fuck were you thinking? Taking on a vamp on your own, and in human form."

She argued right back at him. "I didn't have time to call for backup and I couldn't phase, so it had to be human."

"He could have attacked you."

"I reeked of rubber and fuel. And I was wearing George's shirt so that masked my scent, too. He was so busy looking at my tits he didn't notice I was a wolf until I had my hands on his ears."

"You flashed your tits for him?" Paul looked truly annoyed.

"Yeah. Took my bra off and everything and it worked. He wasn't looking at anything else."

"One bite and you'd be dead." Paul was getting louder.

"If I'd let him go, then Bella would be dead." Leah was getting louder, too.

"It was too dangerous." Paul was in her face, now.

"He was inside the CAR. He caged himself. I put my arm on the door lock button when I got to the car and then his head was on FIRE before his body worked out how to undo the DAMN DOOR!"

"Shush children," said Quil, "Mommy and daddy are fighting."

Paul and Leah were about an inch away from each other's face. They each took a breath.

The whole circle was just staring at them.

"We'll talk about this later," Paul threatened.

"No, we **won't**. There's nothing else to say." She folded her arms and looked belligerent.

There was an odd silence.

Sam cleared his throat again. "Actually, Leah that was an awesome display. To tear him apart with your bare hands was pretty impressive. Not sure I could have done that."

"Thanks, Sam. I had no choice." She glared at Paul and he rolled his eyes.

Charlie glanced at Leah and looked seriously unnerved. Sue reached down and held his hand.

"So we trust Leah's gut and say bad guy?" Jared asked.

"Do we need to call the Cullens to check?" Jake asked.

"**NO!"** Bella and Charlie said at the same time.

"How can we call them anyway?" Bella asked.

Jake looked guilty. "Dad has Carlisle's number."

Bella looked disconcerted. "All this time?" she asked in a whisper. Edward had dumped her, destroyed all evidence that he had ever been part of her life, torn his photos out of the album, taken the CD he had recorded for her and just left, and Billy had always had a contact number? Her world tilted a little on its axis. But then her lovers both touched her and she knew she had something better than Edward had ever been for her.

"Don't look like that, Bells," Charlie argued. "He wouldn't have given it to you if you asked him. He hated the Cullens." There was a pause. "Guess I know why now? They're vampires?" he sounded incredulous.

Everyone just nodded.

"Why did I not know this?"

Nobody answered him.

"The hikers," he said as he put it all together. "I knew they weren't animal attacks."

"That wasn't them," Embry conceded. "But it was other vampires."

"So we thought we'd take a look at his phone," Sam continued, "See if he had a contact listed that will confirm if he has anything to do with the Cullens or with the red headed vampire. You all remember her? Bella thinks she might be after her as the Cullens killed her mate after he hunted Bella to Arizona."

"Arizona," Charlie muttered.

Bella almost hid behind Paul.

Sam held up the phone. "Anyone know this model?"

Embry stepped forward. Sam handed it to him. He swiped his finger across the screen and it automatically opened the text section. "Cool! He left it logged in."

"Not good with tech," muttered Collin to Brady.

"He didn't use GPS or he wouldn't have been asking directions, and run into Leah," snickered Brady. Leah was clearly his new hero.

Paul gave them a look. "Need an address to use GPS, idiots."

Their heads dropped. "Sorry Paul."

Embry was reading. "He has one unread message. It says 'You're late.'" He looked up at Bella. "It's signed 'V'."

"Oh, no." She went pale.

Leah made a fist. "Yes!" she said. She was happy. "It was a bad vamp."

Paul gave her a look as well.

"Sorry, baby," she apologized to Bella.

"Bella, if you can," Sam asked, "can you explain to the pack who this redhead is and what she wants. Any information you can give us might help."

Bella laid it all out for them: the baseball game, her attraction to James as a hunting target, the hunt and how it ended in a pile of ash in a dance studio in Arizona. And with her in hospital with blood loss and a broken leg. Then she told about how Victoria had waited and probably sent Laurent. "We think that she knows that I would not be frightened by a golden eyed vampire. She's very smart. She sent Laurent to ask after me before, but he ran into the pack."

"Another reason for her to hate you," Seth said.

"Perhaps, but she doesn't seem to need any more reasons." Bella sighed. "He said he had decided to kill me for himself. He said it would be better if he killed me because Victoria was planning to make it 'slow and painful'."

"Bells," Jake chastised, "Why didn't you tell us this?"

She shrugged.

Embry looked speculative. "We need to know what she is planning. How can we do that?"

"Ask for help," Seth suggested.

"How?" Jared asked.

Embry waved the phone. "Send a text. If you get a text you always assume it is from the person it says it's from. And that way we don't have to speak and give ourselves away. I can check his sent box and see if he signs off the same way each time or uses particular words. We don't want to alarm her."

"Good idea," said Quil. "Say he missed the text because he was too busy and can she send someone to help him."

"Say her father is the Chief of Police and she's too well guarded," Charlie suggested.

"She doesn't know about the pack, does she?" Sam asked Bella.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Laurent seemed very surprised to see you in the meadow. He didn't know to tell her earlier."

"What color was his hair?" asked Seth.

"What the fuck, Seth?" Leah asked.

"Can one of us pass for him?" Seth explained.

"No. He was a skinny white dude. He did have dark hair though."

"What if you were sitting in his car?" Jared asked.

"I told you to dump that!" Jake growled at him.

Jared looked contrite.

Paul spoke, "His imprint wanted a car."

"It's stolen," Jake said. "You can't have her drive around in a stolen car. What if she got pulled over? You'd take that bet with Kim's future?"

"I suppose you're right," Jared grumbled.

Eye roll from Jake. "You're an idiot."

Meanwhile Charlie was muttering to himself. It finally reached an audible level and started to be directed towards Bella. "…I knew that boy was trouble. He was just too polite … it was weird… and he'd stare at me as if he was trying to see into my head. And every time you got hurt, he was around. I was sure **he** was hurting you but you were just so damn weird about him. It wasn't natural. And Arizona? I rang a cop buddy in Arizona… I did NOT believe the story about you falling down the stairs and through a window. Even you aren't that klutzy. And I had heard it too many times before. 'I just ran into a door' - yeah right..."

"I'm sorry, Dad. I just don't know how I could have told you the truth without breaking the trust of others. It was a secret; for both the wolves and the vampires."

Embry was texting. "Okay… I think I've got it." He looked around. "Do you trust me?"

"Yep. Do it Embry," Leah answered. The others all made noises of agreement.

'_B's father is police chief. He is vigilant of strangers. Even I need a break. Send help'_

'_You don't sleep, V'_

'_You want me to get this right?'_

They all waited in anticipation for the next text.

'_I will think on this. Fifteen minutes.'_

They all settled in to wait.


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Charlie hugged Bella to him hard. His voice shook a little, "Vampires **and** werewolves."

"I'm sorry, Dad." She could never apologize enough.

He just shook his head when he let her go. "Words. Later."

"Sucked out the venom?" Paul asked her. She nodded. She held up her wrist wordlessly. James's bite had left a silvery crescent shaped scar.

"Seen it a hundred times and never thought about it." He looked at her face. "And you kept the secret? Even though you nearly died?"

"Yes."

"Never again," he growled at her.

Bella frowned. "Is it my turn to be shouted at?"

Paul ignored her. "Secrets like that are what get you killed. Secrets send you off into the forest alone to find a meadow."

She flinched. "Jake wasn't taking my calls." It was especially stupid when her father had already told her to stay out of the woods, but Paul didn't know that.

Paul noticed the flinch. "And it wasn't what you wanted it to be, was it?" He knew her so well.

"No." Her voice was tiny. Her memories had shattered in that meadow of dried grass. It wasn't full of pretty purple flowers and sweet whispered words, it was the place she found terror, near death and the wrong vampire. And her half crazy imagined vision of Edward had not done a thing to help her. The wolves had saved her, not him.

"What did you learn from that?" Paul asked.

"That you can't go back." She stepped towards him. "That you should believe your father when he says there are giant animals in the forest and not to go in there alone." She lowered her head and stood very close to his body. "And that sometimes people get angry with you when they are just frightened that they nearly lost you."

He moved quickly and cradled her head to his chest. He rocked her and kissed the top of her head.

She stroked his bare back. "It's okay," she whispered to him. "I'm here and Leah's here and you didn't lose either of us."

"I don't know how. I look back on that memory now, and it freaks me out. You stood there and had a conversation with a red eyed vampire."

"Ooh, can I get another hug, too?" Quil asked.

"Shut up, Quil you dumbass."

"Dumbass," Bella repeated.

"What?" said Paul.

She pushed away from him and waved her arms. "Dumbass."

He lifted an eyebrow.

She pointed at Quil. "You said that he could survive being hit by a car. That if it was Quil, the car would be a write off, he's so solid. He'd probably do it too, just to see."

"Yes! That's it!" Paul crowed.

"And there would probably be airbags and shit, and he'd be trapped in the car," Leah added. "Assuming it is a 'he'."

Quil looked confused.

Paul said, "We don't want to kill the vamp if she decides to send one to help. We want to question it. Ask what the plans are. How many vamps does Vic have to help? That kind of stuff."

"How many are newborns and are stronger," Seth said.

"She could just change the plans," Jake said.

Embry waved the phone again. "Not if she keeps getting messages saying everything is on track."

"We want it alive," Quil said. "And it'll survive a crash, too. But will probably be disoriented."

"Yeah."

"Cool. I'll do it."

Charlie was shaking his head. "I have to sit down," he said. "Sue? Have you got any aspirin? I'm getting a headache."

"How can we question it?" Sam asked. "We're only good at killing them."

"There must be something they react to," Leah said.

"They'd burn off tranquilizers too fast; like us," said Embry.

"Unless they were super strong tranquilizers?" Jared said.

"I don't like taking the risk," said Sam.

"Bad blood?" asked Jake. "Like blood from a corpse or something that's already dead. Not like a transfusion. It might make them sick and weak."*

They all looked at Charlie.

"Oh, no!" he said. "I am not going into the morgue for you."

"Please, Dad."

"Old Quil might have some magic or herbs that he can suggest. You never know what he has up his sleeve," Sam suggested. "We can ask him about the blood too, before we send Charlie in there. Sue? Can you ask him for us?" She nodded and went to phone Old Quil.

Charlie frowned at him. He wasn't used to taking orders.

"Do we know where Victoria is? Where her base is?" Collin asked.

"No. Dammit," said Paul.

"There's been a huge increase in murders in Seattle lately," Charlie said. "Mostly homeless people and the cause of death is exsanguination."

"Blood loss," Sam explained before anyone asked.

"The press has been keeping it quiet. The Mayor didn't want panic."

"They're food," said Embry.

"Or recruits," added Seth.

"How many?" Bella asked.

"About a dozen," Charlie answered.

Bella put her hand over her mouth. "All those people. Dead because of me?"

Leah grabbed her. "Not because of you, baby. The vampires did this."

"But they wouldn't be here except for me."

"What is the attraction?" Brady asked.

He got some feral looks. "I mean does she smell super good or something? They seem to go to such lengths to get her," he justified before anyone hurt him.

"I do," said Bella. "I've been told that before."

Jake chuckled. He had told her himself that she'd probably taste good.

"Mouthwatering," said Leah.

"Yes, and some other vampires have told me that as well."

Paul was looking at her as if he needed a list of their names so that he could go and kill them all.

"Jasper attacked me the night of my birthday," She explained. "That's why the Cullens left. It wasn't his fault … I mean it was just a stupid paper cut and he's an empath so he got hit with the blood lust of seven vampires including Edward and I was his— and I should just stop talking."

Charlie was glaring at her again. "Which injury was that?" he asked.

"Edward pushed me out of the way a little too hard and I fell into a table of glass plates and I cut my arm. But Carlisle stitched it up. It wasn't his fault."

"You say that a lot, Bells," Charlie noted.

"I can see that now," Bella said. "Why did they even have plates there for a cake they couldn't eat?"

"Paper cut?" Paul asked.

"I was opening my birthday presents."

Jake snorted and then burst into laughter. "Bwahaha. Only you, Bells. Only you could get a paper cut in a room full of vampires."

They all laughed. It relieved some of the tension.

"So it'll probably come down the 101?" Charlie checked. He was still looking unnerved, but was clearly trying to get back to being a professional.

"Yep," said Sam. "If they are Seattle based."

"There's forest on both sides of the road, just past Beaver and before you hit Forks," Charlie said.

"That'll work." Sam nodded. "We can lift a car if we have to get it off the road fast."

The phone made a text received noise.

They all waited for Embry to read it.

"She's sending Fred."

"Tell her you'll meet him on the road just past Beaver. He knows the car," Sam said.

Embry texted back. "He's starting off now."

"So we've got three to four hours," Paul said. "If he keeps within speed limits."

"What if he's not driving?" Collin asked.

"We better pray he is," Sam said. "He'll smell the wolves from a mile away. But if she has used technology like a car, before, she'll use it again."

"Charlie, these Seattle murders… were the bodies really torn up?" Jake asked.

"No. Just some odd bite marks, and the blood loss."

"That's not newborns, then," said Paul. "These are old leeches."

"Fred?" said Quil. "What kind of vampire name is Fred?"

"They were people before they became leeches, Quil," Embry said.

"That's just embarrassing. Beware of Fred…" Quil muttered.

"Do we need help? Should we call the Cullens? I mean I know we discounted it earlier, but these are older vamps," Jared said.

"No," said Bella. "It ends here. With us. I am so tired of being hunted. I am tired of innocent people dying and getting in the way… it's just wrong. And I will not hide anymore. I cannot spend my life hiding and frightened of shadows.

"We don't need the Cullens. You are a pack of gigantic supernatural shape shifter wolves. Designed just for killing vampires. This is what you DO." She looked around at them all. "And the thought of that terrifies me. You are my friends and my lovers and I don't want anyone to get hurt. But this has to stop."

She took a breath. "No more dead hikers, no more dead homeless people that don't even make the news because they aren't important enough. I will do whatever it takes. I know my blood is enticing to them. I will be bait. I will scatter my blood around the forest. I will face Victoria if I have to. Whatever it takes. It's no more than you are doing for me."

She looked around at them all. "What do the Cullens have that we don't? Carlisle has compassion and he cares for family just the same way Sam cares for the pack. Emmett is known for his strength and his sense of mischief, just like Quil. Esme is known for her love and acceptance of all just like Seth. Jasper is their fighter and their strategist just like Paul. Rose is known for her beauty and her strength just like Leah. Edward knows people's minds just like Embry does." She stopped suddenly. "Alice? I've got nothing for Alice..."

"Tiny like Collin?" suggested Seth, with a grin.

"Watch it He-man," rejoined Collin.

"What?"

"Well your sister is She-ra. That makes you He-man."

"I am not blue - and my hair is way better than his," Seth argued.

"In any case," Bella spoke louder to be heard over them, "We are more than the Cullens. Ten wolves. That's a huge pack. And you can do anything. I believe in you."

Her words reached them all. They all stood a little taller.

"Thank you, Bella," said Sam. He started giving orders, who was on patrol, and who was on the road watch. "Leah, rest."

She opened her mouth but didn't argue she knew how exhausted she was.

"You're Alice," Collin said to Brady, as they walked away.

Sam looked very serious. "Jared, we need to talk."

Jared looked a bit panicked.

"Jake?" Sam checked.

"Let Paul do it."

Paul nodded to Jake.

Sam jigged his head towards the forest. Jared and Paul followed him. Sam stopped and turned. He looked at Jared as if he didn't recognize him. "Keeping a car that would be reported as stolen is the dumbest thing I have ever seen you do. You're not that stupid. Disobeying an alpha order comes a very close second."

"What the fuck, Jared?" asked Paul.

"It's Kim. She didn't ask me to do it, but I kind of know what she wants."

Sam shook his head. "But you have a brain. You cannot blame the imprint for things. You have to be able to speak up; even if it is not something she wants."

"And you broke the Code," Paul growled at him.

"There isn't a Code," Jared argued.

Paul grabbed him at the back of the neck and got in his face. Oddly, Jared let him do it; as if he knew he had done the wrong thing. "I'd like to beat the shit out of you for what you've done to my girls—"

"But we need him for the fight," Sam suggested evenly.

"Yep, and that is the only reason you are not bleeding." Paul pushed Jared violently away from him. Jared stumbled as he regained his footing.

"Kim doesn't know why we make the decisions we do and she does not get everything her way. She'll end up a spoiled brat and that won't be good for anybody," Sam said.

"She knows too much now," Paul put in.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Leah complained that Kim gossips to Gemma Littlesea about things that are shown in the pack mind. And Gemma is responsible for the whole 'Leah is a slut' bitching that is going around the rez."

"It is? Why didn't I know about this?"

Paul shrugged. "Leah didn't want to complain to you, Sam."

"No, I suppose not."

"I told her to talk to Jared, but she didn't do that, either. She's had a rough couple of weeks and I guess it wasn't a priority for her. And I was away. The only way Kim could know that stuff is if Jared broke the Code and told her. He can't exactly show her."

"I didn't think about the way it might affect Leah," Jared said.

"Gemma is a nasty bitch, Jared," Paul said. "You don't need to be told that. Why is she even friends with Kim? That's what I'd be asking. She's not a good influence."

"You used to fuck her," Jared argued.

Paul snorted. "What's that got to do with anything? It doesn't make her my friend or any less bitchy. And don't bring up that she's Collin's sister, either. She's not pack."

"Leah is pack," Sam argued. "Your first loyalty is to the pack. Your actions have caused her hurt."

"I spoke to Kim earlier," Paul said. "She kind of apologized, but Leah was unconscious so she didn't hear it. She admitted that she is jealous of Leah - she's beautiful and we all see her naked, was her excuse."

"That's bullshit!" said Sam. "She's got an imprint. She shouldn't feel a twinge of jealousy. She's got absolutely nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I didn't believe it either, but I pointed out to her that we know all her dirty little secrets, too. And we keep them secret. Imprints are close to the pack, but they are not part of the inner circle."

"Agreed," said Sam.

"You need to show her who's boss," Paul said to Jared.

Jared looked mutinous. "Who's the boss in your house?" he snarked.

"Bella." Paul didn't even hesitate. He jigged his head back at the Clearwater house. "You've just seen her in full on Bella mode. You want to go up against that?"

Jared looked as if he hadn't thought about that.

"I don't know what to do with you, Jared," Sam said. "We need all the people we can get, right now. You need to have a long talk to Kim. Both of you need to apologize to Leah, when she is awake, and you need to get Gemma out of your lives. No more gossip."

"You're just really lucky that we need the car and that the phone was still inside it," Paul added.

"You're right. I'm sorry, Sam. I'll talk to Kim." He took a breath. "Thanks for not being angry with her before, Paul."

"Go!" Sam ordered, "You know what you're supposed to be doing."

Sam and Paul watched him jog off.

"He didn't apologize to you," Sam noted.

"No. Hopefully Kim got a shock seeing that an imprint can be broken, too," said Paul.

"True. What's Jake up to with you?"

"No idea. He'll tell us when he's ready."

"Yeah." Sam sighed. "Fucking Gemma."

"Jared will get rid of her."

"That's not what I meant. She's Collin's sister. She carries a Black wolf gene. She's the only other girl of the right age, on the rez that does."

"FUCK! If she phases…" Paul looked horrified at the thought.

"Yeah… thank Christ, Leah came back into the pack."

"Oh, Hell no. Gemma as pack female? There would be a mutiny."

"Yep. Make sure you thank Leah for me."

Paul clapped him on the shoulder. "Will do."

They heard Charlie's patrol car start up. "He's going to get the dead man's blood," said Sam. "Sue would have talked him into it."

"He would have done it anyway; he's a good man," said Paul.

* * *

[*AN: I stole/borrowed the idea of dead man's blood from Supernatural.]


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

[AN: I've lost track of the time - I think it's late afternoon almost evening - bwahaha twilight! ]

* * *

Paul jogged back to the Clearwater house. Bella and Leah were waiting for him. He couldn't help it, his heart literally leapt when he saw them. He wanted nothing more than to take them to bed and not leave for an entire twenty four hours. They both reached for him at the same time. Leah was on his left and Bella on the right. The three stood there and just held each other.

"Everyone's gone off to do things," Bella said. "Leah needs to rest."

"I know. I can feel her trembling. We've only got a few hours and she needs to sleep."

"God, I want to fuck you both, but it'd take me three hours to do half of what I want to do," Leah whined sleepily.

Paul chuckled. "So, back to your place?"

"No." She said it too quickly; too emphatically.

Paul looked ready to be rejected.

"It reeks of _him,_" Leah explained.

He took a breath. "Gotcha. My place then." He still had to let some stuff go. She wasn't going to reject him again and he needed to stop looking for issues and just trust her. He and his wolf would feel better about it after a damn good fuck, but she was right, they didn't have time.

"I'll go over tomorrow and clean and air the house. If that's okay," Bella suggested.

"Not alone, you're not," Paul argued. "You have to have a wolf with you."

"Fine. I'll take an escort."

Paul drove them home. Leah sat on the truck floor and put her head in Bella's lap. She still looked so tired. Paul kept glancing at her worriedly. Leah could barely stand. She was dead on her feet. Paul was almost carrying her. "She'll want a shower. Get rid of his scent from her skin. I can hold her upright."

"Yes, you take her; baths are more our thing," Bella said.

"Really? I didn't know that."

"She loves washing my back."

"Uh-huh."

"You can too if you want." She yawned. "I'm so tired, too."

"Just sleep for now." It was a statement.

"Yes. That will be perfect."

"Together."

Bella lay on the bed and waited for them. She knew they had some major problems with vampires and kidnap plans. But for the first time in months, she felt at peace. Paul carried in a damp, naked Leah and laid her next to Bella. Leah shuffled a little until Bella's face was under her chin and their arms were wrapped around each other. They both took a deep breath. Paul looked at them.

"Fuck it," he said. He set his phone alarm for two hours. It was all he could spare. He would hear if a pack member called, even if he was asleep. He clambered onto the bed and slid in behind Leah.

He looked over her shoulder at Bella's face. "You okay?"

"Am now." She ran her hand over Leah's hip. "I love how soft her skin is, but underneath she is all hard muscle."

"I love her eyes," Paul said.

"Oh, those feather-duster eyelashes. They are gorgeous."

"Gorgeous?"

"Yep. And her legs. Man…"

"So shapely. And so long."

"Stop it you two," mumbled Leah. "You'll give me a complex."

"Pfft," said Bella. "But my real favorites are her breasts. Gah. I wish—"

"Oh, yeah." Paul's voice ended in a growl. "I love her tits, too."

"Spooky coincidence."

"Stop it," Leah said. "I mean it."

"Give it up, Leah and accept the admiration," Paul said.

Paul spooned her perfectly and she hugged Bella to her chest. Skin to skin, they all made contact. Bella's hands touched each one and with her ear on Leah's chest could hear her strong slow heartbeat.

Bella closed her eyes. "Paul?" she asked quietly.

"Go to sleep, Bella."

"How will we get the dead man's blood into the vampire? Their skin is like marble… a syringe won't pierce it."

"Squirt it down his damn throat - go to sleep."

"Oh, okay - that'll work." She made a small, snuffly noise as she got comfortable again.

Paul lay there; he held them both and everything was right in his world. He and his wolf made a pact to protect them at whatever cost. He thought about what Bella had said about vampire skin. He started to plan the kidnap all out in his head. He knew that road. He thought about things that could go wrong and how they would deal with it. There was a cleared space down a small access road that they could move the car down to, if another vehicle came along. He leaned back and grabbed his phone. He sent a text to Sue and then lay back down.

He never actually fell asleep, but by the time he had sorted it all out he needed to go. He drew back from them and wished more than anything, that he could stay. Bella's eyes opened. "Stay with her," he said.

"Always."

He smiled.

He left the house sure in the belief that the pack could do this. It was what they existed for, to keep their loved ones and the rest of the tribe safe.

* * *

The pack met back at Sue's. Charlie had a large jar of dead man's blood.

"That is the grossest thing I have ever done," he complained. "It's just nasty and it stinks. It doesn't even clot properly."

"How much did you get?" Paul asked.

"About half a litre."

"Thanks, Chief," said Sam.

"How are we going to get him to drink it?" Jake asked.

"Sue, did you get one of those steel syringes?" Paul asked.

"Yes. There wasn't one big enough at the hospital, but the animal clinic had one. Why do you need it?"

"Bella pointed out that we can't inject a vampire. Their skin is too hard to pierce. And it will all be for nothing if a normal syringe gets broken in the scuffle. So we have to syringe the blood down his throat and make him swallow it. Their fast metabolism will take care of the rest."

"We can't even hold his nose; he doesn't breathe," complained Seth.

"And do it without touching a tooth," said Embry.

"Why?" asked Charlie.

Jake answered him, "Vampire venom makes us sick and a bite could kill us."

"It's about the only thing that does," said Quil.

Paul and Sam both looked at him. "I do not want to know," said Sam.

"Oh, Old Quil said to add ground sage to it." She shrugged, as she handed Sam a jar with a pretty label marked in cursive script. "I got some from my herb rack. It's ground, but fresh. He has some growing in his yard if you need fresh leaf sage as well."

"Maybe later. Thanks, Sue."

"Do we have a plan?" Jake asked.

"It's easiest if we phase, and get going. I can show you on the way, and we can talk through any issues," Paul said.

"How are we going to carry that?" Seth nodded his head at the jar of blood.

"It might get broken in a backpack or a bag if it bangs into something," Embry said.

"And I am not getting any more," Charlie insisted. "So it had better not get broken."

"So we need something hard with a handle?" Jake said.

Sue made a noise. She rifled around in a cupboard and then triumphantly placed a woven cane basket on the kitchen counter. Charlie snorted.

She wrapped the syringe and the herb jar in a hand towel and wrapped another one around the blood jar, so they didn't clink together. She picked the basket up and shook it a little. The items didn't fall over and didn't make a noise.

"Perfect," said Sam. "Jared, You're carrying the basket. Let's go."

Jared rolled his eyes. Clearly he was on shit duty.

They all phased and Jared picked up the basket handle in his mouth. He complained loudly and endlessly about the rancid blood smell. The rest of the pack made jokes about him being the wolf carrying little red riding hood's basket of goodies.

Paul laid it all out for them as they ran. There was a bit of back and forth and allocation of tasks. Brady was sent to check the nearest dwelling. It was only about five hundred feet from the site they had chosen to crash the car. He reported that it was empty.

_Quil? Are you sure about this?_ Sam asked him for the tenth time.

_Don't worry Sam. I'll be fine. I am seriously dying to do this._

Sam tried to stop it, but an image of Quil dying doing it flashed across his mind.

_Oh, come on, Sam. You are always whining about how hard my skull is, _Quil complained_._

Embry was human and driving the vampire rental car to the meeting point. He also needed to have fingers just in case Fred made contact.

Seth had the best eyesight and he was on point.

Embry parked the rental just past the access road and waited inside the vehicle. From behind they hoped he would pass for the dead vampire. And he wouldn't wait outside of the car and risk sparkling in the daylight if he was a vampire.

They waited. None of them could carry watches and they had no idea how long they waited. There was a little bit of pack chatter back and forth. Jared made occasional ugly spitting sounds as he tried to get the rancid blood taste out of his mouth.

_Seth: He's coming._

_Paul: How do you know it's the leech?_

_Seth: Christ. Look at the width of that collar - that's ten years old for sure. Only a vampire would wear that. _Seth was transmitting what he was seeing through the pack mind as he was running level with the car through the forest, dodging trees and staying out of sight. He could show the pack exactly when the car was in the right spot.

_Sam: That's your vampire identification method?_

_Seth: Oh, and he reeks and he's pale and bloodless? He's got the window down and it's the same rental company._

_Sam: fine._

_Paul: She __**is **__smart. Better to rent than steal a car and risk getting pulled over by the cops._

_Sam: Everybody ready?_

Agreement rumbled through the pack. Everything rode on the success of this kidnap. But they were on a public road; the risk of exposing the tribal secret had them all a little worried. Collin and Brady were giving off the most nervous signals.

_Paul: Collin, Brady? We are doing this for Leah._

_Brady: and Bella. She made me cookies after Leah broke my arm._

_Paul: Typical. _He radiated love and concern for them both and couldn't help flashing the pack an image of them as he had last seen them; wound around each other, naked and fast asleep in their afternoon nap.

_Quil: They're beautiful, Paul._

_Jared: Leah looks better already. She really needs Bella, doesn't she? _He sounded surprised, as if he had just worked that out for himself.

_Paul: Yeah, she does._

_Seth: Are you ready Quil?_

The pack would need exquisite timing. They had to communicate through the pack mind, as half was on each side of the road and Quil was waiting a little further ahead. They needed pack speed and senses to move at the faster speed, but they also needed to phase human to lift the car off the road if need be.

Paul would not ask anyone else to risk it; he had the filled syringe and the premixed rancid blood and sage mixture, sitting at his paws, still in the basket.

_Seth: Now!_

The car slowed slightly as the driver sighted the other vehicle parked and waiting on the verge. The enormous chocolate wolf dashed faster than a bird could fly, out of the undergrowth and straight towards the moving vehicle. He hit the moving car square on. There was a tremendous thud noise. The car stopped immediately. The front of it was a crumpled mess, the rear end of it actually lifted up in the air a little, the wheels still spinning and then it thumped down onto the tarmac. The air was filled with the noise of breaking metal and shattering glass. The airbag exploded out of the dash.

The giant wolf body bounced back from the front of the vehicle and lay on the road unmoving.

The pack had started running a millisecond after Quil did and they had already reached the car. They phased human as they did. Sam tore off the driver's side door and Jake did the passenger side. Tiny Collin dived through the broken rear window and grabbed the hair of the driver.

Paul phased human first and then grabbed the basket and ran towards the wreck.

The disoriented driver had just started to react. He tore the airbag out of his face but couldn't work out why he couldn't move his head. As his hand flung the airbag out of his way Sam grabbed his arm and held on. Jake grabbed the other arm. More wolves than that could not fit in the vehicle, so they had chosen their strongest to hold him.

Paul went through the windshield; the glass from which was hanging like a rag in the now empty space. Now was the hard part.

The vampire seemed to recognize what they were; their scent must have hit him en masse, in the confined space and with the stress of the situation they were all sweating. But he could only see Paul, right in front of him. The vampire instinctively opened his mouth to roar a challenge at the wolf and Paul squirted the syringe full of rancid blood and herbs into his throat. The large vet syringe held about 200 mls of fluid; almost a full cup and the vampire's rapid metabolism went against him. Some of it went down his chin but his body was already absorbing the blood. It was nothing he would have had near his mouth if he had a choice about it, but when it was forcefully sprayed into his gullet, he swallowed.

Embry had reached them by then and he went straight for Quil; lifting the head of the unconscious animal and trying to drag it off the road.

There was a beat while they watched the driver intently. He continued to struggle against their arms but his skin color changed almost immediately. He looked a little green. His body sagged in the seat and he screamed. The blood seemed to be actually hurting him, like a kind of acid.

"Car!" shouted Seth.

""Shit! Move the vehicle," Sam ordered. "Hold him, Collin."

Collin still held the vampire's hair and Paul leapt from the hood to take the front fender. He tossed the syringe to Seth who caught it. Sam and Paul took one side and Jake and Jared the other. They lifted the wrecked car across the main road and up the dusty access lane. A passing car would definitely not have missed eight naked men and a giant wolf on the road. There was nothing they could do about the debris on the road surface. They just prayed the approaching driver was not too observant.

Embry and Brady lifted the wolf.

Seth tossed the syringe into the basket, picked it up in one hand and a discarded car door in the other. He looked around but couldn't see the other door. He ran after them. "Fuck me. It actually worked."

By the time he reached them they had placed the car wreck down. It couldn't be seen from the main road unless someone stopped at the entrance to the lane and looked straight up it. They were all picking glass and bits of metal out of their hands.

"He can't move," Collin called out. "Hardly at all. I think it acts like a kind of poison." His head stuck out the window. "Is Quil okay?"

"Embry, you left the other car," Jake said.

"Fuck. I hope I shut the door," Embry said.

They all held their breath as they heard the approaching vehicle come down the road. It slowed a little but then kept on going.

"Phew," said Embry. "Sorry guys, I was worried about Quil."

The enormous brown wolf rose to its feet. It looked particularly groggy. It shook its head, took a couple of staggering steps, its legs buckled and it fell over in the dust. It phased into a large naked man with an enormous bruise across his forehead.

"Quil!" Embry rushed over and hugged his friend.

Quil's eyes opened. "I'm okay," he mumbled. He lifted his hand in the air with his thumb up. It shook a little, but it was up. "It's all good."

"You are insane," Embry told him.

"Definitely got a hard head, dude. You hit that car full on," said Jake as he picked a piece of glass out of his foot.

"Dumbass," said Paul.

There was much hooting, hollering and 'did you sees' for a couple of minutes.

"Ahhh… guys?" Collin called. "A little help here?"


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah's eyes shot open. She clutched at Bella so hard, that she woke her up.

"What's the matter?" Bella mumbled.

"Pack."

Bella was awake now. "Oh, my goodness. Are they all right?"

Bella had to wait for an answer. She peered anxiously at Leah's face. When Leah finally breathed out, she knew. "They're okay," Bella guessed.

"Yes."

"How did you do that?"

Leah frowned. "I don't know."

"When I was talking to Quil and Embry, they said they could still feel Paul in the pack; even though he had gone away. Is it like that?"

"Yes… maybe. I just know they were all nervous and then … it was okay."

Bella studied her. "During the … what do I call it? Intervention?"

Leah nodded.

"Paul ordered you. Even I heard it. It made the pack all … shiver."

"Yeah," Leah whispered.

"I mean you tried to ignore it, but you were walking away and I saw you stop."

They shuffled around in the bed so that they could talk.

"Was that like an alpha order?" Bella pressed.

"Yes." Leah knew Bella needed more than that. She huffed out a breath and tried to communicate how it felt. She needed to work at talking to both Bella and Paul. "Um, I can't explain it. It was like an alpha order, but different somehow."

"Because it was Paul and he's your wolf mate?"

"Maybe."

"He _is_."

Leah shrugged. "Yeah." She sighed. "He is."

Bella made a small happy noise at hearing that confession. "I'm really pleased by that, but that wasn't what I meant. I meant that he isn't your boss, he's your mate. Your equal."

Leah blinked. "Oh, I see. So it won't be the same as an alpha order; at least not to me. Even if that's the way the rest of the pack hear it; as an order."

"Yeah."

"So I should be able to order him?" Leah chuckled.

"Oh, now. That could be fun."

They both laughed. It sounded wicked and joyous.

* * *

"Guys?" Collin called.

"Shit! Sorry Collin," said Paul.

They had all momentarily forgotten the smallest member of the pack; still inside the car, holding the vampire's head.

"I didn't want to let go… you know?"

"Well done, Collin," said Sam. "You took care of a vampire, all on your own."

"Collin puffed up a little and looked a little more confident. "Yeah," he agreed.

"Atta boy," said Jake. "My garage, right?"

"I dunno," Sam argued. "It'll be inside the rez." And close to humans.

"We'll make sure it stays put, Sam," Paul argued. "We've still got some of that rancid blood left, if it needs another dose."

Seth was just staring at the vampire.

Embry fetched the other car. The easiest way to move the disabled vamp was in a vehicle. They had some chains and luggage straps to tie it up in; but that was all they had. They hadn't been one hundred percent certain that the blood and herbs would even work. If they had to, they would have just killed it. Properly this time. It was already dead.

"So Old Quil was right?" Quil asked. "Crap. I might need to take some more notice of his crazy ramblings."

They dragged the groaning vampire from the car, held him firmly and chained him up then tossed him in the back seat of the rental car. Jake and Sam got in on either side of him. Jake promptly got out again. "I cannot fit in there," he said.

"I'll do it," Jared offered before someone ordered him.

Jake's garage looked more like a bondage dungeon than a car repair place. Although most bondage dungeons didn't have bunches of fresh sage burning in the corners. The remains of the jar of dead man's blood sat on a bench with the steel syringe sitting in it.

The vampire hung from the pulley rig Jake used to pull engines out of cars. To stop him kicking his legs up and hurting anyone there was an engine block chained to his feet. It acted like a rack; he was strung between the two and they could stretch him by pulling on the winch. Not that he could move at all. Collin's guess about the dead man's blood being a poison seemed correct. It hurt the vamp to have the stuff inside him; like drinking acid to a human. He was weak and pathetic now. But after hours of heavy questioning from Paul and Seth, the vamp still wasn't talking; at least, he wasn't telling them anything they needed to know and the wolves were getting annoyed. Plus they were running out of the blood. The others had all given up hours ago and gone home.

Paul was a little concerned about Seth; he was losing it. He had spent ages cutting off the guy's fingers and watching them re-attach. It wasn't like Seth to pull the wings off a fly; especially when they re-attached and you could just pull them off again. There was too much stuff in a garage that made torture easy; vices, pliers, chains, and blow torches.

"There's nothing you can do to me," their victim mumbled. "I am immortal."

"I dunno," Seth said, eying off Jake's blow torch, "I reckon it might be hard to live forever with no fingers. "What if we cut them off and then burnt them?" he asked Paul.

"That's true," Paul agreed. "What can we offer you?" he asked the vampire. He waited for a response. When it didn't come, he leaned in close to the guy and whispered to him, "How about, an end to your pain? Seth really wants to hurt you. A hurt that you won't be healing."

"You know we are not going to let you go," Seth added.

"So, tell us what we need to know and we will kill you quickly." Paul poked at the vampire's body and made him groan. "We know this is all Victoria's plan. You were probably happy being a leech where the fuckever you lived, until she convinced you to get involved in this mess."

Seth got the idea. "What are you doing here helping her? You're an old vamp - you know better than to draw attention to yourself. You are not an idiot newborn. What could she offer you that you couldn't get yourself?"

"Oh ho," crowed Paul, "the attention of a pretty red haired vamp. Am I right?" He leaned in conspiratorially. "Did she fuck you? Ask you to do it for her while you were sunk inside her? How many of the others do you think she fucked, too? Are they all guys? Do you get a dryness problem fucking vamp women?"

"She's old - very old and super sneaky," Seth said. Paul got a look for the question about fucking vamps.

"I'm not talking," the vampire argued.

"You are; actually." Paul said, with a shake of his head. "But you are just not saying the right things. The things that will earn you points. I'm not fucking around playing good cop, bad cop or any of that shit! You are stone cold out of luck here. You pulled bad cop and even worse cop with a whole pack of angry cops behind us."

Paul leisurely stepped back and forth in front of the vamp as he chatted to him. He ignored the vamp but it watched him.

He counted on his fingers. "Okay, so we know it's her. We know she sent you here to help find Bella. We know you want to hurt Bella."

The vampire looked confused.

"You do know what she's up to and why? I mean, you wouldn't be stupid enough to come here based on a lie? Would you?"

"She said there was a vampire coven here. They are unnatural." He clearly didn't want to be thought a fool.

Paul nodded. "Huh. She lied. Well at least about them being here. They **are** unnatural; I'll give her that."

"They are gone," Seth added. "They used to live here."

"She knows they are gone, too," Paul said.

"They left… we didn't kill them," Seth said. "She's right; they are different to other vampires - so different that they even have a treaty with us-"

"Makes my blood boil, I tell you," Paul interrupted.

"We don't kill them and they don't bite anyone. That's the deal. We didn't make it, our great-grandfather's did, but we abide by it out of respect for our elders."

"We killed Vic's friend, I think his name was Laurent, when she sent him to check it out-"

"And we killed the last guy, too."

"She's sent you into a trap with no thought for you. No matter what she tells you while you are fucking." Paul leered at him.

"You didn't sign the treaty, we owe you nothing."

"And our gods have made us shape changers. We are wolves; we specifically exist to kill vamps. We run faster than you. Our teeth can tear you apart. And we do NOT need a full moon to do it."

Paul and Seth both looked extremely dangerous.

"That is what your lover has sent you into and you didn't even know," Paul said.

"And she knows about us. She had a look herself some time ago. I'd guess, just before she came up with the grand plan to get other people to help her out. Why would she need all you leeches to take out one little girl, unless she knew the wolves were here?"

The vampire shook his head. "No…"

"Seth, he doesn't believe us." Paul looked fake astonished.

"He can smell us. He knows we are not human. We can show you," Seth offered eagerly.

"Seth, here is one of our smaller wolves. But you probably won't believe that. So we need Jake; he's our biggest wolf. Jake?" he called.

"Yo," Jake called out. He came into the garage and rubbed at his nose. "Jeez it stinks in here," he complained.

"Can you phase for us, but keep it under control. We only want to frighten the leech here." Paul backhanded him across the stomach hard enough to thrust him back against the chains and make him groan with pain.

"Yeah, okay," Jake agreed. "I'm doing this for Bella."

"Noted," Paul said, with an eye roll.

Jake slipped his cutoffs down and seamlessly phased. He was gigantic in the dilapidated garage. The enormous wolf growled at the chained vampire. The vampire twisted in his chains in fear.

"See," said Paul. "The sun is about to come up; but there is definitely none of that full moon shit, here. This is full on Native American magic."

Seth stood with folded arms leaning back against the tool bench out of the way. "You picked the wrong tribal lands to drive into. You saw how big Quil is, too. You hit him with a car and he's okay."

Paul held his hand up near wolf Jake's muzzle. "I come up to about here, I think. But I make up for it in nastiness." He grinned. It wasn't pretty.

Jake phased human again. He shook his hair out of his face; it was getting longer. He cracked his back and neck. "I'm starving. Phasing too quickly always makes me hungry. I'll be in the kitchen, call if you need me." As he left he popped his head back in. "Did you guys want anything to eat?"

Paul and Seth both shook their heads; clearly torture ruined your appetite.

Paul approached their victim. "So you think this is about the weird vamps, but truthfully, Fred my man - this is all about a girl. A pretty, skinny little thing with big brown eyes. You did know that?"

"The girl… yes." He sounded doubtful.

"The scout that Vickie sent - what was his name?"

"Diego."

"Okay. She sent Diego after her. To ask her address, track her or whatever he was doing."

Seth stayed silent.

Paul rubbed his face. "This girl attracted the attention of Victoria's mate, James. About a year ago? Did she tell you that?"

He looked blank but doubtful.

"James followed her. Threatened her and the weird vamps, the golden eyed family that protected her. Big miscalculation from James there. Just because they didn't drink human blood, he thought they were weak. They weren't. They took him out. And Victoria is pissed about that. So this is really all about revenge from a jealous female."

He patted the vampire sympathetically on the arm. "How does it feel to find out you're a tool?"

"I d-don't believe you."

"You are like us - you can tell when someone is lying."

"You may believe what you say," the vampire noted, "but it does not make it the truth."

"He's right," Seth pointed out.

"Smart guy, Fred. So, if I bring the girl in here and she tells you the truth? Will you believe her?"

Seth did not look happy about that suggestion.

"Yes. If she is telling the truth, I will know."

"Seth? Can you ask Jake to fetch Bella."

Seth nodded and left the garage, leaving Paul and the vampire alone.

"I should warn you though. She's best friends with Jake, the big red wolf you just met and Seth there," he pointed out the door. "He adores her, too." He paused. "But she is super special to me.

"Here's the deal, Fred. I love her. I love her more than almost anything else in this world. Except for the third person in my bed; our other lover. And she is our pack female, and you really do NOT want to get on her bad side.

She tore apart your friend Diego with her bare hands. And she did it all by herself. She scares us. And don't forget the golden eyed family." He chuckled. "Here's another piece of the truth for you. They love that girl, too. Love her enough to leave her to have a human life. And they have eternity to hunt you down if you hurt her. They forget nothing; they're vampires."

Fred nodded. "She's special."

"You got that right."

Seth came back and sat up on the tool bench. Paul waited by the door. Fred watched them. Paul looked relaxed, but wary. Seth looked edgy and angry. It took about fifteen minutes before they all heard a car motor drive up and turn off, and then soft footsteps approached the garage. It was starting to get dark now, the way it did just before the sun rose.

"Paul?" Bella called out.

"Hey, baby." He embraced her and kissed her. His whole body language; even the sound of his voice changed when he saw her. He stood between her and the vampire; shielding her subtly with his body.

"Seth? Are you okay?" she asked.

Seth smiled at her. "I'm fine. Just not happy that you have to do this."

"What is this about?" she asked Paul. She kept touching him as she spoke; little strokes of her fingers down his arm, a hand touch on his hip. Even if Paul had not told him that he loved her; it was obvious from their body language.

"I am sorry to ask this of you, baby," Paul apologized. "He won't believe us."

She looked at the vampire around Paul's shoulder. "About?"

"Victoria's motives," Seth said.

Bella nodded.

"Allow me to introduce you," Paul said. "Bella, this is Fred. The schmuck has just found out he's a tool in every sense of the word."

"Oh, the poor thing."

Fred looked at her. She wasn't frightened of him; she radiated sympathy. He had been sent to give Victoria information about this girl and she didn't hate him for it. She was also nervous, but unafraid. Why would she be? She had a pack of shape shifter wolves to look after her.

"Where's Leah?" Paul asked her.

"She said it would be better if she didn't come with me." She shrugged. "You know what she's like."

"Yeah. I told Fred that."

"Okay." She kissed Paul quickly and then stepped around him. "What did you need to know, Fred?"

"You've met Victoria?"

"Yes. It was mid-March, 2005. The thirteenth I think. I was playing baseball with the Cullens when she, James and Laurent approached us. Edward could read minds and he knew immediately when James had decided to hunt me. He was a tracker."

She twisted her hands together nervously. Paul put his arms around her waist from behind. "It ended in Phoenix, Arizona when he tricked me into thinking he had my mother captive. I went to meet him and the Cullens caught up with him there." She held her arm out to him to show him the scar. "He videoed it. He thought it would be amusing to show the Cullens later. He broke my leg and he bit me…"

She stopped talking. She cleared her throat. "Sorry. This is old history for me." She patted Paul's arms where they held her. She started again, "Edward sucked out the venom. James was… burnt. Victoria was tricked into following a false trail and Laurent had already betrayed them."

"So it's payback?" Fred asked.

"I am so sorry that she lied to you. She wants revenge because my friends killed her lover. I don't know what she has told you. But she just wants to kill me or hurt the ones I love."

"I believe you." Fred got the idea that if they all loved this girl, then she was his best chance of getting out of this. She felt sorry for him. Maybe she could get them to let him go? "She stays and I will tell you everything," he offered.

"That's up to her," said Paul. "I don't make her decisions for her."

"You want the information?" Fred threatened.

"I'll stay," Bella said. "You tell me everything."

Paul frowned at how close she was to the vampire. But Fred just poured it all out for her: Victoria's plan, how many vampires she had to help her, what their skills were and the date on which it was all supposed to happen. He even gave a short history of Victoria and her previous experience with the Volturi. He explained that she hadn't used newborns because she was frightened of attracting the attention of the Volturi.

When he had told them everything, Seth and Paul exchanged a look and Paul scooped Bella up and carried her outside while Seth kept their side of the bargain. Jake had clearly been waiting outside the garage and he went in to help Seth.

"Put me down! You said you didn't make my decisions for me," she shouted at Paul.

"That one was not your decision. And it's already done."

Seth and Jake started burning pieces of the vampire in the fire pit.

"You killed him!" Bella accused.

"He's a vampire!" Paul said. "It's what we do. AND he came to hunt you."

She pursed her lips and looked annoyed.

Paul faced her. "Do not argue that we could have let him go. We are not taking the risk that he goes back to her, and it's not just about you. What about every other human on the rez if Victoria changes a single thing in that plan? All he has to do is phone her and she be warned."

"She might not come."

"She's insane. Of course she'll come. And if she didn't, then she'd be out there forever. Do you want to live with that? I thought you said you were tired of being hunted."

Bella huffed out a breath. "I did. I did say that."

"And who or what are the Voltaran or whatever he called them? You twitched like a freaking rabbit when he said that."

"Spill, Bells," Jake encouraged.

"The night I got the paper cut, Edward and I were watching a movie and talking about Italy. Edward said that is where their rulers live. The Volturi are a very powerful, almost royal, family of vampires that live in a town called Volterra. They make the rules and you do not irritate the Volturi unless you want to die. Death is the punishment for exposing the secret of the existence of vampires."

"You are fucking kidding me," said Paul. "I tell someone that vampires exist and these dudes are going to come after me?"

"If they know about it. Yes. I am not sure how they feel about werewolves, either."

Paul threw his hands up in the air. "We have to fight them, too?"

"But they don't know. Do they? I don't know how dangerous they are, but everyone seems terrified of them-"

"Like vampire bogeymen," said Seth.

"Right. Even Victoria is not that insane. And they don't like to travel," she added lamely.

Jake gave her a look. "So we trust that the V guys stay at home and that Victoria doesn't change her mind."

"She does seem pretty intent on something once she sets her mind to it," Seth said, with a jig of his head at Bella.

"Fuck!" Paul hugged her tightly.

"I hate this," she muttered, as she hugged him back. "I hate that everyone else is involved. Even Charlie."

"I know," Paul crooned to her.

"She fell for a false trail before," Seth pointed out.

"Doesn't mean she'll do it again," said Jake.

"That was just with Alice and Esme wearing my clothes," Bella said. "What if it was my blood?"

"Blood would work," Jake agreed. Paul just set his jaw. Bella hugged him harder.

* * *

**[AN: my betas complain that I am a wimp at torture - they used phrases like 'braid his intestines' and 'set him on fire and put it out repeatedly' - sheesh - scary people, I tell you. feebes is very good at horror: try her story at fanfiction s/8433928/1/American-Wolf-in-Forks and Ruadh writes great Riddick stories. They are both on my fav author list if you are looking for them.]**


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

**[AN: I have never really understood how Alice's gift works. So I have probably mangled it beyond recognition. Personally I think it would be impossible to see all possible alternate futures for one person; let alone more than one, without your head exploding … *shrugs* ah, well]**

* * *

Alice Cullen and Jasper Whitlock were in Alaska staying with the Denali clan. Irina was upset over the disappearance of her most recent mate, Laurent. She had asked Alice to try to see him in her visions. Alice had met him twice, so she did know him, but when she went looking for him in her visions, all she got was darkness. That, Irina did _not_ want to know about. Things had moved from eager to awkward, so they were planning to hit the road anyway.

Alice had promised Edward that she would not check up on Bella. But it was hard not to have a peek sometimes. Bella had been her friend and Alice had never had a human friend before. She understood why Edward wanted her left alone, but she missed her. Edward wasn't in Denali to listen in on her thoughts. He was off on some wild goose chase of his own.

Bella's future was very erratic; with periods of darkness that became more pronounced over time until she was almost solidly black. She hadn't seen it with anyone before and she wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't like the finite stop of death. She was alive; Alice just couldn't 'see' her.

But then the darkness cleared. Alice could see Bella at work at Newton's. She started to learn her work schedule and almost 'tune in' to Bella channel at those times. Her regular Bella programming. She got a glimpse of a distraught Bella begging Mrs Newton for time off. Her eyes were red rimmed and she had obviously been crying. Then she was sobbing a lot in her bed at Charlie's house. Her room was so bare that it looked as if she had moved out and then moved back again.

She described it to Jasper along with some phrases that she had caught.

"Sounds like she has a broken heart."

"Oh, Jaz, You think so?"

"That means she's moved on. This is a good thing, darlin'. She is living a real life; just like Edward wanted."

"I don't know. I don't like it. There's something else. Something is blocking the visions."

"You promised Edward."

"I know. But we don't have to tell him," she cajoled.

"And how exactly will you keep a secret from Edward?"

She ignored that.

But then the blackness returned. She couldn't see her at all now. She checked death notices and news listings, but there was no mention of the death of Bella Swan.

"I will phone Carlisle. He might know what could block it."

Jasper sighed.

Alice gave a happy bounce, as she clearly thought of something that made her very happy; Jasper, being an empath could tell. He raised an eyebrow.

"Charlie," she said. "I promised not to watch Bella. I didn't say anything about Charlie."

Jasper shook his head. "He really liked you."

"I know." She got that dazed look as she tried to hone in on Charlie's vision path. "No… that's odd. He's gone black, too. I will definitely have to phone Carlisle."

After some discussion with Carlisle and Alice describing the darkness as supernatural, Carlisle suggested that it might have something to do with the Quileute.

"She was friends with Jacob Black; the chief's son," Alice remembered. "I am sure he fixed up her truck for her."

"Yes. And there is very strong magic there. You weren't with us when we signed the treaty, but the wolf pack had only three members then and it was formidable. I did sometimes wonder if our presence in Forks would cause a resurgence. There must be a link between the presence of vampires and the transformation."

"A new pack?"

"Bella does seem attractive to the supernatural."

Jasper made a face at her. He could hear Carlisle. "She needs protecting," he suggested.

"Laurent," said Alice. "It's the same blackness. Only his has the feel of death."

"If he crossed into their territory, the wolves would have killed him," Carlisle said.

"He was supposed to be following the diet. He did it for Irina."

"Laurent? I imagine that he is no stranger to betrayal," Carlisle said.

"He betrayed James and Victoria."

"Yes. Very adeptly." He paused. "Victoria," Carlisle repeated.

"You have thought of something."

"Edward was chasing her. She threatened Bella."

"I know." Of course she did. "But he stopped recently; he lost her trail somewhere in South America."

"You don't think she could have gone to Forks?"

"Jaz and I will go and check," she announced. "Don't worry; we will keep a very low profile." She hung up.

Jasper stood and started packing. He knew there was no talking Alice out of things. "We had better keep a low profile if there is a pack of supernatural wolves nearby."

"We'll be safe. We signed a treaty with them," Alice stated.

"No, _we_ didn't, darlin'."

"Ooh, goodness. We had better hurry. I just have a feeling, not a vision."

"If we scoot, we can be there before tonight."

* * *

The sun was just rising as they stood outside the garage. "Did you get any sleep at all?" Bella asked Paul.

"Nope." He sniffed at her. "You and Leah didn't have sex."

"No." She looked momentarily caught out.

"Why not?" he asked.

She smiled at him; it was a beautiful smile and it made his heart skip. "You weren't there," she whispered conspiratorially.

He stared at her. "I could be there," he deadpanned. "I'd run it in five minutes flat. Carrying you."

She laughed.

Jake coughed deliberately. "Sorry guys, we have to tell Sam what we've found out."

Paul growled. Seth chuckled.

"Shhh," Bella said. "We will be together; all of us. When it is safe."

"I know," he huffed. "And we do need to work out how to make sure that happens."

Bella whispered to him, "We both want you there." She pulled her head back and kissed him. "Go… make us safe."

"You want an escort home?" Jake asked her. "I'll drop her and then drive to Sam's and meet you guys."

Paul said, "Thanks, Jake."

She watched Paul and Seth jog off towards Sam's place.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked her, as they started to walk towards the Rabbit.

She sighed. "I hate it."

Jake knew what she meant; she had said it at the pack meeting. She attracted them. "You keep us busy."

"I need a holiday from that. And speaking of, I need to clean the house and go to work sometime today. Are you appointing my sitters?"

"I can. Who do you want?"

"I don't mind. Oh, someone who might help."

Jake laughed as he opened the car door for her. "Bells, they will _all_ want to help you."

* * *

"I heard you," Seth said to Paul as they jogged to Sam's.

"Heard me what?"

"Tell the vamp about the girls."

Paul made a face. "It's the truth. He'd know if it wasn't. And besides, Leah does scare the pack."

"Yeah." Seth chuckled. "And Bella is special. You didn't say you loved Leah."

"Fine. I do though... but it's a whole different thing. Not less, not more, just... different."

"The wolf?"

"Something like that." He glanced at Seth. "And I am only telling you because you are her brother."

"Lips are sealed," said Seth.

"Yeah right. You saw it, Seth. When he got her back. The whole pack did."

He, Paul's wolf. "Yeah." Seth shivered. The agonized howl from Leah's wolf at the intervention still haunted his dreams.

They had reached Sam's place by then. They tried to explain it all to Sam, but were tired and lost some of the detail and then they started to argue with each other. Then Jake showed up and repeated half the stuff they had already told Sam.

"Just phase, and show me, so we can all get some sleep," Sam said.

That was the easiest way for them to tell Sam what they had learned. They all phased. Compared notes and ideas, and then Sam let them go. "Go shower. You two reek of leech."

* * *

Paul had walked in the door and headed straight for the bathroom. He was going to take a very long shower. He blew a kiss at the girls. They were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and trying to work out what they did with the day.

"I need to call George, too," Leah said. Bella started making pancakes. She knew Paul would be hungry.

Leah's head tilted and she seemed to be listening. "What the fuck?" Leah said. She stood, walked over and opened the door of Paul's house and there was almost half a pack of wolves on the porch. "What are you mutts doing?"

"Ahhh… we thought Bella needed a watcher today," said Collin.

"So we came to offer our services," said Brady, with a glare at Quil and Embry.

"Looks like we all had the same idea, huh?" said Quil.

"Oh," Bella called out. "Hello, boys." She went out and shooed them all into the house after hugging them and saying good morning to them all. Seth jogged up as she finished with Quil and lined up for his hug, too. His hair was still wet from the shower.

"Any breakfast left?" he asked hopefully.

"I can always whip up another batch of pancakes or something," Bella assured him.

"If you run out of syrup we can send someone to fetch some." Seth chuckled.

Paul came out of the bathroom with a towel on. He stood there and looked at them. He let out an enormous growl, but they all ignored him. Leah dashed across the room and jumped him and he soon forgot all about the rest of the pack being there.

She pushed Paul back into the bedroom. He fell back onto the bed with her sitting on top of him. The towel was just hanging on.

"I thought we were waiting for Bella," he said.

"We are, but…" She looked nervous. "Remember the fight in the truck?" She had her palms flat against his chest.

"Yeah?" he sounded doubtful; as if he didn't want to remember it.

"You said that you would fuck me in front of the whole pack and not be ashamed."

"Yeah." He couldn't see her point. He frowned worriedly at her. He ran his hands up her upper arms.

"I understand… now. I'd do it now. Here. With all of them in the house and I wouldn't care."

His face cleared. "Awesome." He sat up and kissed her. He left his face pressed against hers and whispered to her. "But you know what? I wouldn't ask you to do it. Now I know that waiting is sometimes more important. Not fucking someone sometimes shows them how much more they mean to you."

She looked overjoyed. "For Bella, too," she added.

He nodded. "All or nothing." He paused. "Just for the reconciliation. After that, all bets are off," he hastened to add.

"And then… anything is on?"

"Yeah."

"Even…?" She looked mischievous.

He knew she meant the pegging. "I told you, at the time, that I enjoyed it."

"I know you did."

"Fuck! With Bella as well? That would be fucking awesome." He fell back onto the bed.

Leah leaned over him. "And the wolf thing. We have to do it properly."

"You're on. If we both survive this battle with no major injuries, then it is on." He grabbed her and hugged her to him.

"Yes. Right after?" she checked.

"As fast as I can get inside you."

"It's really hard not to fuck you now, Paul."

"Tell me about it," he whined.

They heard Jake walk in the front door. "Here, they all are," he commented. "Ooh. Pancakes."

"Are pancakes compensation enough?" Leah asked.

"Christ. If they left me any."

"Bella put yours in the oven. I saw her do it."

"That is one special girl."

"I know." She clambered off him. "I'll give you a minute." She waved a hand at the lump in the towel.

He groaned. "We have to find time today. We have to. I am going to die." He rolled over onto his stomach.

"Yeah, me too."

By the time Paul got dressed and got out to the kitchen, Bella was on to making the third round of pancakes. She rescued his stack from the oven with a worried look. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes." He kissed the side of her head as he reached for the plate.

"Watch your hand; it's hot."

"Wolf, munchkin."

He slathered them with butter and syrup and ate standing at the kitchen counter where he could be close to her, but not get in the way of her cooking. He did kind of get in her way, but she didn't mind bumping into him occasionally. Leah poured him a coffee when she refilled her own and sat up next to him. He leaned against her.

"Should we talk about vampires?" Embry asked. He stood and started collecting empty plates.

"Sam's not here," said Jake.

"We think we have a bit over a day." Paul glanced at Bella. "They are coming after sunset." He paused. "Tomorrow."

There was an odd silence as everyone absorbed that. Bella stepped over and slid between Leah's legs. She held her tight. Paul put his arm around Bella's back.

"Sam knows?" Quil asked.

"Jake, Seth and I just left his place."

"Told him everything we knew," Seth added.

"We have some planning to do," said Jake.

Nobody asked what had happened to their prisoner.

Collin and Brady had started washing up when Bella's phone rang. Paul still hadn't got a land line connected to the house.

"Hey Dad. Whassup?"

"Ahh…" He sounded nervous. "I have a visitor at the office."

Bella was confused. "Oh, that's nice," she said benignly.

"It's Alice Cullen."

The whole pack went on point like hunting dogs. They were all looking at her.

That explained the nervousness; Charlie had just learned recently that the Cullens were vampires. He probably didn't know what to do with one sitting opposite him at his desk.

"Is Jasper with her?" Bella asked.

"Yes." Make that two in his office.

"She can hear every word I say. Does she want to talk to me?"

"Yes. Here, I'll put her on."

Bella hadn't spoken to Alice since the day that Edward had left her in the forest. She suddenly looked panicked. Paul held her hand. Leah hugged her from behind. She bit her lip, took a breath, held the phone a little away from her ear and said "Hello, Alice."

"Bella." Alice's light trilling voice made Bella feel odd for a second. She clung to her lovers.

Leah jerked her head back and the rest of the pack all winced; clearly an amplified vampire voice didn't sound as bright and charming to them.

"It's okay, Charlie knows."

"Everything?"

"Mostly."

Alice laughed and half the pack had to leave the house. The older ones gritted their teeth and stuck it out.

"Charlie just shut the office door," Leah told her.

"It's Victoria," Bella said without preamble. "She is hunting me. We know when, and how many vampires she has to help her and what their skills are if they have any."

"When?"

"Sunset tomorrow. Can you see her?"

"No. Or you. That's why we are here. Something blocked my visions. But I haven't tried looking for her future. You went black and then you reappeared and now, dark again. It is very frustrating."

Paul raised an eyebrow.

"Paul came back," said Bella.

"_Your_ decisions determine your future."

"I chose them."

"Them?" Alice asked.

"Paul and Leah. I live with two wolves."

"Oh, my." She chortled.

"We need to meet."

"Will they abide by the treaty? Jaz is worried."

Bella looked at Jake. He nodded. "Two only."

"I heard," said Alice. "We will meet you on the main road at the tribal boundary, in thirty minutes. See you then."

Bella hit the end button. "I am not going to get to clean the house today am I?"

"Nope," said Jake.

"We are coming with you," said Leah.


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

**[AN: I have used the vamp names from Bree Tanner but not their abilities. In that book, Fred could repel vampires and he escaped - it amuses me to have a vamp called Fred or Warren. Juvenile, I know. Vic's history comes from the Illustrated guide to Twilight and twilight saga wikipedia. I still can't bring myself to pay that much for the hardcover book. There ya go; I'm cheap and juvenile. ]**

Victoria surveyed her fighters. Revenge was such a harmless word. She preferred vendetta. It even sounded more dangerous. She wasn't stupid enough to transform newborns and hope to keep them under control without attracting the attention of the Volturi; newborns were at best challenging and at worst uncontrollable. And how on earth would she feed them, with their ravening thirst? She would need to be criminally insane to do such a thing.

She thought back to her human life; what little she could remember was cruelty and beatings from a master who had hated her for her beauty. At least she and Anne, her sister, were together. They had eventually escaped, only to fall into the clutches of a street pimp. Working as child prostitutes was actually the easier job. Victoria had not come back one night after arranging to meet a client. The client decided to keep her. She escaped after two years and lived on the streets. She heard that her sister was dead.

She made it to eighteen years old. She wasn't even certain of her own age, but that had to be about right. She had been transformed by her own sister. The sister she thought was dead had returned to her as a magical creature of the night. Of course she had said 'yes'. Her life in the 1560's was nothing to cling to. She always did know the best way to escape.

But the Volturi had changed all that. She had lived as part of a coven of women; Hilda, the leader, had sired her sister, and the others Heidi and Mary. Heidi had an innate skill; she attracted people like fish to a bait. They never went hungry again. The addition of one more, Noela, had proved too much for the Volturi. They drew too much attention they argued. Hilda was executed for it and Heidi went with them. For all Victoria knew, she might still be part of them. She had gone too willingly; it had the taint of some other control; probably a vampire gift of influence. Victoria's gift had alerted her that they would all be executed and she had screamed out the warning. They had all run, but only she had escaped. Later she realized that the Volturi wanted Heidi for themselves. It wasn't about the Rules. The powerful wanted something and they had just come and taken it; killing all who stood in their way. A lesson she learned well.

She had avoided vampires and stayed out of covens since then, but James… her James had changed all of that. He had started off hunting her. Other vampires were his favorite targets, they did make the game more difficult, but she always escaped him and eventually he had admired her for it. She had come to love him. He was her mate. She wanted to please him. She went to the dance studio. She saw the damage. She knew what the Cullens did to James. They had done so much damage to the building that it had been abandoned. They had torn up the polished wooden floor to burn her lover.

James' ashes she collected as well as she could and spread them near Montreal. His home; the one of his vampire birth. James was born towards the end of the American Revolution. His father was a French trapper and his mother was English. She had come to America as an indentured servant. James was raised to track and trap by his father at a young age, but the Iroquois killed his parents before his eleventh birthday and he had raised himself. If he didn't hunt; he didn't eat.

As a grown man, he had placed a challenge against another hunter and lost. He accused the other hunter of cheating. He was, in a way; he was a vampire. The bet to the death was paid in a manner James hadn't considered. He always did love hunting.

She was irritated by Laurent's betrayal of them to the Cullens. She told him that unless he went to Forks and checked up on the Swan girl and the Cullens for her, she would hound him and his new girlfriend. Another yellow eyed freak. She was more annoyed when he never came back with his report. She went to Denali to check, but clearly, he had betrayed the new girl as well as her. Typical.

So, she had formed her own coven. She had useful skills and her beauty and past life as a prostitute came in handy. She knew exactly what they wanted to hear. She had no other women in her coven; they were all hers and they were all male. She wanted no competition.

She had been chased by the wolves, so she knew there were five in the pack. She had thought ten vampires would be more than enough; two against one was good odds. She had sent Diego in as a scout after he had gone vegetarian for long enough to make his eyes fade to a tawny gold color. The plan was that Bella would not be frightened of him if he happened to run into her. But then he had asked for help and she sent Fred to assist. She now had eight counting herself. Her gift niggled at her. Even though she was getting messages from Diego, there was something odd about them.

But he had given her a vital piece of information; Bella's father was the Chief of Police and his home address was a matter of public record in a town as small as that of Forks, Washington.

She cast her eyes over her coven. Riley had an enhanced self control. He was the youngest vampire and had better control than many older ones she knew. Dean, was very fast. Jim was a natural leader, Casey could climb anything; his friends called him spider-man. Of the others, Logan, Kevin, and Warren were normal vampires.

She stood in front of them and she pulled out a plastic zip-lock bag. She handled it as if it was a holy relic. It was, to her. When she was in the dance studio she had found a torn, bloody pair of jeans.

Carlisle had medical training. It was standard triage behavior to cut off and discard Bella's clothing. They were her jeans, Victoria would know that scent anywhere. Her blood was all over them. She took them then and has held them ever since; wrapped in a zip-lock bag to preserve the scent. She carried that bag wrapped flat against her own body; a constant reminder.

"This is the scent of the woman we hunt," she announced. She passed it out to them and they all got a good whiff of it.

"Delicious," said Riley.

"She will be," said Victoria. "We will drain her dry." She smiled.

* * *

Paul's truck approached the border boundary. Sam and Jake were in front of them in Jake's Rabbit.

Jasper looked wary and held himself rigid. Alice hopped in place. She waved at Bella excitedly as they drove up and all got out of the vehicles.

"Jesus!" said Paul when he saw Jasper. The others made a hiss noise. They stood a fair distance apart.

"What?" Bella asked. Whatever it was, she couldn't see it.

"I'll tell you later."

"Tell her now," said Jasper.

Bella looked at Paul expectantly.

"He's covered in vampire bites. Like seriously covered in them. I can't imagine…" He just stopped talking and shook his head.

"Newborn army, Texas," Jasper said.

"Newborns?" said Jake as if he couldn't help himself. "Fuck!"

Alice wrinkled her nose at them. "Four wolves. How many are in the pack now?" she asked.

"Ten," Sam answered. "But probably more will show in the next three months, if there are vampires on tribal land."

Bella hadn't thought about that.

Alice looked at Sam. "Carlisle suspected that our presence caused the change but we were not aware of that. It is too much of a coincidence that each time we are here, there is a wolf pack. We apologize for the damage we have caused to your people."

"Thank you," said Jake simply. It was just an apology, but it was important, too.

"And this must be your Paul and Leah?" Alice quizzed.

"Yes."

"Do I get a hug?" She smiled tentatively as if she wasn't sure of her ground.

Leah startled.

"Of course," said Bella. She stepped forward and hugged Alice. She had forgotten how hard she felt and how cold.

"I missed you," said Alice, "And you still smell good."

Paul's eyes narrowed. He put a tick next to Alice's name on the mental list of vampires who thought Bella smelt good and had to die.

Jasper chuckled.

"Oh, sorry Jaz." Bella hugged him, too.

"Wait a second," said Paul. "Is this paper cut boy?"

"Yes," said Bella.

"Get back over here," Paul growled at her.

"It wasn't his fault, I told you that. He's an empath. He can tell your emotions; your feelings." She did go back to Paul's side though. She patted him.

"Yeah? What am I feeling now."

Jaz looked at him. "Worry, concern for the one you love." He gave Paul another look. "A small amount intrigued. You wonder if you could fight me."

"No. No fighting," said Bella.

Paul nodded, but he didn't take his eyes off Jasper.

"I can help," Jasper offered.

"Why would you help us?" Sam asked.

Jasper nodded his head at Bella. "She is also special to me and the one I love."

"We've fought vampires before," Jake argued.

"En masse? A single vampire is a very different proposition."

"We have eliminated a few."

"Three or four?" Jasper guessed.

"Three," Jake conceded.

"One, Leah took down alone and human," Sam said. He sounded hugely proud of her. "She's our pack female."

Jasper looked surprised. "Really? That is impressive." He nodded his head in a way that resembled a mark of respect.

Leah tilted her head. She pushed her chest out. "I used my assets to distract him, while I ripped his head off."

"Hey," objected Paul.

Jasper laughed. "Oh, darlin' we have to help them. This will be the most fun I have had in ages."

"Jaz, you are just going to roll around in all this emotion-"

"And a fight. A real honest to god fight. I haven't had one of those in decades."

"Can you give us a minute?" Sam asked the vampires.

They nodded. Bella stepped back over to talk to them.

The wolves took some steps back and put their heads together. The vampires could probably still hear them, but it gave the appearance of privacy.

"What do you think?" Sam asked.

"Newborns. He's a fighter. We need the help," Jake said.

Leah watched Bella with them. "They love her. They wouldn't be here otherwise. I say 'yes'."

Paul huffed out a breath. "It seems wrong to get other vampires to help us kill vampires. You know?"

"He's done it before. And Alice may be tiny, but I am willing to bet she can fight, too," Sam said.

"I dunno," said Leah, "She seems like she'd rather avoid it if she can. What if she looked after Bella? They used to be best friends," she explained to the guys. "Once she has bled for us, I don't want her near the fight."

"I'd prefer her to him," Paul conceded. "And we can send along a wolf, too."

"Charlie's," said Jake. "Then he can guard her, as well. Not that he can really do anything, but otherwise he'll be out trying to help us."

"So," Sam summarized, "We train with them, see about a strategy, talk to Charlie… where do we do it?"

"The training ground is cleared land," Paul said. "And it reeks of wolves too much for the battle place."

"True. That meadow, where we killed the dreadlocked vamp would be better for the fight," Jake suggested.

"Perfect."

Leah knew that had been Bella and Edward's special place, but she kept her mouth shut. It seemed ironic to her, that they chose there and somehow it was perfect at the same time. Beginnings and endings.


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

When they got back to Paul's house after making arrangements with the Cullens, the pack were all still waiting. Jared had shown up too. Sam filled them in on Jasper's offer of help and how they had accepted it.

"We will meet at the training ground at - what time is it now?" Sam asked.

"It's only 8am," Leah answered.

"Midday then. Cancel everything; work, school, whatever." He looked around; they all nodded at him. "Bella? Can you call Alice?"

She nodded. They had exchanged numbers at the border meeting.

"Someone needs to patrol," Sam added.

"I will," said Jake. "I can't tell Lily what's happening anyway."

"I'll join you later," Sam offered. "We need to talk to Billy too."

"Okay, you lot. You can all fuck off now," Paul said, when Sam had finished.

Sam left, but nobody else moved.

"I'm not kidding," Paul said. "Go home."

"Why?" asked Quil.

"Because I am going to fuck my women, and you can all go home and fuck your women too or kiss your mom or your kiss your right hand, in your case, Quil. We have a fight coming soon. We are going to train with vampires. Not on tribal land… but this is damn close to my definition of a living Hell and I want to be with my girls before it all really _**does**_ go down to Hell in a purple hand basket."

They all just looked at him.

"So, I repeat. Fuck off - all of you."

"Gah, he's so romantic," said Bella.

"Ooh, I know," said Leah. "Makes me all… wet." She leered at Paul deliberately and the pack finally got the message and ran.

Paul pointed at Bella. "You. Shower."

"What. Why?"

"You've been hugging vampires."

"He's got a point," Leah said.

"MOVE, Quil," ordered Paul.

"Oh, come on... can't I listen to her shower?"

"NO!" Paul and Leah said at the same time.

Leah took a menacing step towards Quil and he decided to run for it as well. He mumbled as he went… something about Paul not being able to fuck both women at the same time.

Paul snorted. "I can try," he called after Quil.

"Of course you can," Leah said.

"No, really. I want to try."

Bella had already stepped into the shower. She was singing happily to herself.

"Listen to her," said Leah. "She's happy."

"Hey… back to the fucking." Paul stalked over towards her.

"How are you going to fuck us both at the same time?" She put her hand on his chest. She dragged it lower and around his body until her hand dove into the back of his cutoffs. She pulled him forward abruptly and their bodies smacked together.

"Go easy, She-Ra," he said. "Don't forget the fragile human."

"I never do."

He looked oddly serious for second. "Yeah; I know."

"So… what **are** you thinking?" She got a look on her face as if she wanted to eat him.

Paul pursed his lips and looked as if he was really thinking about it. "I could stack you; one on top of the other."

"Nice. I vote for boobs together. That's fun for us."

"Right." He leaned in and nibbled at her jaw. "So you'd do that, anyway. And I could watch. I do love watching you two fuck."

"You and Bella started without me."

"When I first came back? She needed it and you weren't really here," he noted.

"No, I guess I wasn't," she confirmed. "But now, we both want you."

He started to push her with his body; tiny steps backwards towards the bedroom. "I know," he crooned. "You told me…"

She chuckled. She reached down and pulled at the hem of her t-shirt. He helped her. She pulled it over her head and dropped it on the floor.

He shoved her backwards again, a little harder this time and something changed; her heart rate increased and not in a good way. Paul took an immediate step back away from her. He held his hands up; away from his body to show her where they were.

Her arms folded defensively across her chest.

"Leah?" he checked in a low calm voice. "You okay."

"I-" she started to talk and then just stopped.

"Talk to me. What's wrong?"

"Panic."

"Yeah. I get that. I can hear it." He didn't sound annoyed or frustrated with her. "Talk to me."

"I dunno what's wrong."

He nodded. "I think I do."

She looked at him.

"When was the last time we had sex?" he asked her.

"You and me? In the alley."

"Yeah. And the time before that?"

"Not sure… on the floor with Bella?"

"Right. And what was I doing each time?"

"Pushing, fighting me-"

"Holding you down. Dominating you."

She took a big breath. "Oh," she said as she thought about it. "Okay." When they had talked earlier, she had been on top of him.

"I thought about what I did wrong with you. What I fucked up. I thought about it a lot when I went away. I thought that me being pushy was what you needed; what your wolf wanted. And maybe it was, but it can't be the _**only**_ thing we do."

"O-okay."

"Not today," he added. "I can be gentle. I told you that."

"You are with Bella, but I kind of wouldn't let you try."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"I'm sorry too. It's a bad time, at the moment. Serious shit is happening. We are all under pressure. You only let your wolf out yesterday."

"Fuck. It feels like a week ago."

"And you are doing so well, and I am sorry that I am pushing you. And I feel really tired; can't think straight. Got no sleep at all. Spent the evening in dead company."

"No. I get why you're pushing. I want to be with you both. I really do."

He brushed her cheek gently with his fingers. "I know you do. You told me and I trust you."

She leaned into his hand. Shifted her head and kissed his palm.

Before he would have grabbed her at the back of the neck, but he knew better now. He let his arm fall down, sliding carefully down her arm until he reached her hand. She bent her wrist and their fingers tangled together. They were still standing at full arm's length. He squeezed her hand gently. They just stood there and waited for Bella to finish in the shower.

Bella opened the bathroom door. "Okay, I think I am stink free," she announced. She saw them. "Did you wait for me?"

"Yes," said Paul. He winked at Leah. The panic attack would be their secret.

Leah turned around to face Bella. She was still holding Paul's hand behind her back. She stepped towards Bella and Paul followed carefully behind her without crowding her. Bella didn't notice, her attention was all on a topless Leah.

Leah lifted her other hand and touched Bella's face. She leaned in and kissed her and then she took her hand and walking backwards, she tugged them both after her into the bedroom.

They pretended to fight in the doorway when they got jammed. They were all laughing by the time they reached Paul's bed.

The room reeked of Paul and Bella sex to Paul's wolf. But it was also the place where he had let Leah peg him. And she was the first woman he had **ever** allowed into his space, let alone allowed to do that to him. Last night, when he wasn't here, the only two women ever afforded that privilege had slept here wrapped in each other's arms. Leah had put herself back together with help from Paul and the pack, and then Bella had held her that way.

To Bella it was the place of her rescuer. The haven she had found after her heartbreak. Where she discovered that someone really did love her enough to take a risk he hadn't ever taken before and let her into his heart and his life.

To Leah, it was the place where she had crossed some boundaries of her own. She had a memory flash of Paul below her as she fucked him, when her wolf had wanted to mark him. He had said he would kill her if she did it, then. She wasn't sure what he would do now and if it was on the table as an offer, or not. Not right at this instant, in any case. They had too much other stuff going on. Her wolf chuffed happily at the scent of her two lovers. And hers; recent but there.

She had stopped and the other two stopped as well. Waiting for her.

Paul yawned.

"Are we going to bed?" Leah asked.

"I think Paul is going to fall asleep," said Bella.

"Am not," he said, but he yawned hugely. "I'm wide awake."

"Ooh, what big teeth you have," said Bella.

"Don't even go there, munchkin," he warned her.

Bella chortled; a joyous laugh.

"Bed bed bed," Paul recited.

"You said it three times," Bella pointed out.

"Yeah, one for each of us."

"Jeez, you say some sappy shit sometimes," Leah said

Paul roared with laughter. "You love it."

Leah grinned at him. "Yeah, I do."

He asked her a question with his eyes. She nodded. She was okay now.

"Leah's on the bottom," he said.

"She's not naked, yet," Bella argued.

"I can be, if you help me." The girls kissed. Bella's hands were reaching and deftly undoing Leah's shorts. Bella was still naked from the shower and Leah's hands were busy with her breasts. Paul just watched them. Leah kicked off her shorts and the two girls tumbled onto the bed together.

"Damn," Paul hissed, as he watched them kiss and stroke each other.

He made a hand movement at them, that indicated he wanted them to swap positions. At the minute, Leah was on top of Bella. They both ignored him. They kept kissing. "Hey." He leaned over and patted Leah's ass. "Come on."

"You aren't naked," Leah said. "You can't order us unless you are naked."

"And ready," Bella added. "Otherwise we are looking after ourselves."

He rolled his eyes. He pinched Leah on the hip. She squealed and threw herself off Bella and onto the bed next to her.

"Well come on," Bella teased. "Mr Talk."

He raised an eyebrow at her and started undoing his cutoffs. They lay there and watched him; their heads together as they whispered to each other.

"I like this bit," Leah said.

"Oh, yes. Look at that body."

"And the way he just… falls out of his jeans… it's breathtaking."

He stopped and looked at them. "Remind me again why I wanted two women in my bed?"

"So you could fuck us both at the same time?" said Leah.

"Yes. Remember? Quil implied that you couldn't do it."

"Even tired, I can do it. As long as I don't lie down."

They smiled at him.

He dropped his cut-offs and kicked them away. Bella made a sigh noise and Leah licked her lips. He reached for Bella, lifted her over to straddle Leah's hips and Leah shuffled underneath her. All Leah could see was Bella astride her; her hair tousled around her head and covering both their faces. She leaned forward and then her tongue plunged into Leah's mouth. Her hips ground against Leah's as she rubbed her mound against her. And Leah could feel Paul's clever fingers; stroking and rubbing and pushing her thighs open. Bella legs spread wider too and Leah could feel how wet she was.

"Paul, please," Leah begged.

"Give me a sec," he said. He grabbed her under her thighs and lifted her and Bella sitting on top of her. He thrust at her a couple of times and then just sank inside her.

She went to cry out but found her mouth effectively muzzled by Bella's tits. She sucked at one eagerly.

She could feel Paul's hard thighs under hers as he shunted her onto him. He was talking to her. Asking her continuous questions in a low growly voice that made her wolf writhe. Could she feel him fuck her? Did she like that? Did she want it like that?

And all she could say was, yes.

The weight on top of her, the heat, the pressure - she just fell of that edge and came.

But he wasn't finished. He dropped her back on the bed and she felt Bella's hand stroke down her neck. She opened bleary eyes to see her face. "Hey, baby," she muttered to her. She saw Paul's hands reach around Bella's thighs.

"Bella," he said to her and it almost sounded like a warning.

Leah lay there languidly and watched Paul's muscled arms lock around the body of their smaller bed partner.

"Oh, God. He's wet from you," Bella breathed.

She was smaller, yes, but not weaker. Paul fucked Bella hard and she took it and she was fine. Beyond fine. It actually surprised Leah. Leah realized that something had changed between them when she was absent. She guessed that Bella wasn't just soft now for Paul either. The same way that she wasn't just hard. That had changed, too.

He lifted Bella up onto her knees and off Leah and he pistoned into her. She cried out and her hands reached out for Leah. Leah held her and watched her avidly as Paul kept going; slamming into her with the wet sounds of their flesh coming together. Leah's hand slid down between them and stroked Bella's clitoris. Paul's thrusts jammed her hand between them. Bella shuddered and went limp before Paul finally groaned and held her very tightly against him with his face buried in her hair.

"Oh, fuck yeah," he mumbled.

"I feel so much better," Leah said with a sigh.

"Me too," Bella said. She was still breathing hard.

Paul pulled back from Bella and she shivered as he did it.

"Greedy girl," he whispered to her. Still holding her, he shifted them both. Leah shuffled over and Paul laid Bella down between them. She grabbed for Leah and they cuddled. Paul didn't get to tell them to go to sleep, he fell asleep almost instantly.

The girls kept touching each other; little gentle strokes as if to check they were both still there, still in contact and after a few minutes, Leah's eyes closed too.

* * *

**[AN: it's happened, I have caught up to where I am writing. I will do my best, but I may not be able to make daily updates. So don't panic; the story will be finished. I'll rephrase that - I have written a chunk of stuff, but it all comes _after_ the immediate next scene. I have a day of stuff to write, waiting for the battle and that is tricky. Do people talk? Have those 'chats' - you know the ones...]**


	68. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Paul woke up when Leah left the bed.

"Leah?" he asked.

"I just need a shower. I napped before," she answered.

"Okay. You _**are**_ okay?"

She walked around his side of the bed. "Yes." She ran her hand through his hair and bent down and kissed him. "Now."

"Good."

He snuggled Bella and watched Leah leave the room. He couldn't go back to sleep properly; too much to think about, and he kept listening to Leah shower and then move around the house, and eventually heard her go outside. He cat-napped until Bella yawned and woke up as well. She shifted over the bed and ended up flat on her back with her legs spread wide. Paul rolled on top of her and shuffled down until his head lay on her stomach. She murmured something and put her arms around his shoulders.

"What?" he asked. "Didn't catch that." He lifted his head and looked up at her face.

"Do I have a double chin from this angle?"

He rolled his eyes. "No. As if. You're still too thin." He lay back down on her flat stomach.

She chuckled. "One day I'll be fat."

"Ooh, I sure hope so." His head lifted and he kissed her stomach about where her uterus was.

She frowned at him.

"Fuck! Sorry, that was the wolf talking," he said.

"Really?"

"Yep. He is super pleased with his little harem."

"His little pack?"

"Yeah."

"Wolves," she said as if she was thinking aloud. "What other memories did wolf Leah show him? Or you, I suppose," Bella asked.

"Everything. She was so distressed and she had no brake and no filter. It all just poured out."

"Leah was too tired to stop her."

"Yes. I don't think she could have stopped her. She was so pleased to be freed."

"And to see your wolf. Will you tell me what she showed you?"

"It's hard to describe, but in any case, I don't think so. No offense, munchkin. " He gave her a balancing look. "It sounds dumb, but it was kind of wolf talking to wolf."

"I understand."

"She loves you," he hastened to add.

"Yes, I have always known that. I am so glad it worked out for her. Not just for us," she added quickly.

"Yes. She is a whole person, now. She and her wolf are together, the way it should be."

"Now she just needs her self confidence back."

"This battle is a worry, but she will shine. I am sure of it."

He put his head back down, but Bella still wanted to talk.

"Paul? At the pack meeting… Sam kept asking you and Leah things. He almost asked your permission a couple of times. And don't tell me that was to do with me, because Sam would have just asked me direct."

"You are so smart. I love your brain." He gave up and propped himself up on his elbows, letting his fingers run over her ribs.

"You haven't answered the question," Bella accused.

"Was there a question?"

"Oh, you… fine." She tousled his hair. "What has changed in the pack hierarchy? There! That was a question."

"Yes, it was."

He still hadn't answered it. "And?" she prompted.

"Something is different. I think it's the alpha pair thing. We won't really know how it works until the pack is under stress. Who they look to in a battle will be the real test."

"True." She bit her lip. "She was so damaged."

"She was a mess, munchkin."

"I know, right. But she'll be okay? Won't she?"

"Sure. I'll keep an eye on her. I can see inside her head."

Bella nodded.

"You look after her, too," Paul added.

"Yes."

"It will take time."

"And support."

"She can't exactly go to therapy."

"No. Where is she, right now?"

"Went outside. Hopefully she's talking to her wolf."

"Do you think one day?" Bella asked.

He looked quizzical.

"Will she have babies?" she mouthed silently at him, as if she thought Leah could still hear them.

"Leah's?" he mouthed back.

She nodded. "With you."

He shrugged. "Must do. Three wolf genes 'n all."

"So you don't think she's sterile, like she does?"

"No." Now that was a thought; they never used contraception. _She's not fertile now, _his wolf told him._ Not yet._

"True. She's royalty. Oh, my God, with you as their dad, they'd be huge!"

"Well, you'd have to feed them."

"Why me?"

"Because you'd be their other mom; the one who can cook."

"Oh." She paused. "Oh, yes. I suppose I would be." She looked as if she was imagining it.

"Might even have your own," Paul suggested carefully. He was interested to know what the wolf thought of that possibility. And what Bella thought of it, too.

"I've never thought about it. But I suppose we could. Not for a while, yet."

We. Paul groaned. "Man, I can't tell you the back flips he is doing now just from you talking about it."

"Excited, huh?"

"In more ways than one." He lifted an eyebrow at her.

She laughed. "Do we have time?"

"There's always time." He lifted up on his arms and slid lower down the bed, burying his face between her legs.

"And you called me greedy," she accused.

She watched him with a smile on her face and her hand tangled in his hair. She loved the way he licked at her; full, long flat tongued licks. Sometimes he watched her, but today his eyes were closed and he looked to be enjoying himself.

Paul heard Leah come in the back door. She stood in the doorway and watched them. "It's time to go. Bella needs to bleed."

He lifted his head enough to talk. "Can't you see I'm eating?"

Bella's hand pushed his face back down.

Leah smiled. "I can see that."

"It's Bella's fault," he added. He shifted his arm and slid a finger inside her.

"Ooh, yeah," Bella said.

Leah didn't think she was actually listening to them. "Why?"

"She talked about babies."

Leah took in a sudden breath. She understood what Paul meant. Talk of babies might have made his wolf excited.

Bella took in a sudden breath too, but for a different reason. She moaned low in the back of her throat and shuddered.

Paul glanced at Leah. "You joining us?"

She shook her head. "Thanks, but no. You two finish up. We've got all day together."

Paul sat back on his heels. "You're sure?"

She nodded.

"Okay." His attention returned to Bella. He lifted her up to him where he knelt on the bed. Her arms went around his neck and she straddled his lap. Her eyes opened.

"Leah," she breathed as she caught sight of her. Bella held her hand out to her.

"Hey." Leah stepped forward, took her hand and lifted it to her face. She kissed her palm.

And then Paul thrust up into Bella and she cried out and clutched Leah's hand. Her mouth hung open and she panted. Leah could not resist, she leaned in and kissed her. She heard Paul chuckle. He sounded pleased. He lifted up a little, holding Bella steady so that Leah could keep kissing her. He shuffled across the bed on his knees; closer to Leah. She almost laughed. She had said she wouldn't join them and Paul had effectively put them in her space, by moving. And Bella by holding her hand. She was with them.

After a few thrusting movements, Paul made a kissing noise. Leah drew back from Bella and leaned over to kiss him. He held Bella hard at the thighs and buried himself in her. Her head fell back and she moaned. Her whole body went rigid. Paul gasped into Leah's mouth and she knew he was coming inside Bella.

Paul kissed her and she put her arms around them both. They just leaned on her and breathed heavily.

"You taste like Bella," she told him.

He chuckled.

"And that was sneaky," she added.

He looked up at her with serious eyes. "We want you here; you know that."

"I know." She stroked his face.

Bella made an odd noise; a strangled snort sound.

"Jeez, girl," Paul said.

"What happened?" Leah asked.

"I went to grab at him," Bella started. "You know inside-"

"And she just pushed me out," Paul finished.

Leah laughed. She hugged them both again. "Come on. Seriously. We have to get going. Sam said we are all meeting up at Mom's, so Bella can do her blood thing."

"Will there be food?" Paul asked.

"Of course, there will be food. It's my mother."

"Cool." He patted Bella on the behind. "Off, girl."

Bella clambered off him and fell back on the bed.

"Are you showering?" Leah asked.

"Not me," Paul said.

"Show off."

He grinned.

* * *

"I'm okay with needles, but I faint at the sight of blood," Bella told Sue.

"It's okay, I know how to do it so that you won't notice." She held Bella's chin. "Look over there."

"That'll work." She chuckled. "Is my dad here?"

"Yes." A faint blush stained Sue's cheeks.

"Are you two talking again?" Bella asked.

"Yes."

"Good."

Sue looked at her. "You're okay with it?"

"Of course. He's waited long enough; Mom left when I was a year old."

Sue made an odd shrug movement. "I think he was waiting for me."

Wow. What a thought. "You knew each other when you were teens?" They were in the bedroom and there were enough people talking in the house to cover their chat.

"Yes. He was out here all the time."

"With Billy, Quil and-"

"Harry. They were all best friends."

Bella has never thought about it. But once her father must have been Paul's age. And just maybe he was in love with Sue Clearwater. "What was your name then?"

"Uley."

"I never knew that."

"Small tribe."

Her father had accused her of being too loyal; too intent on things or people, when she had such trouble getting over the fact that Edward had dumped her. Maybe she was just like her father? He had waited more than twenty years? "He liked you, way back then?"

"Loved me, yes and I loved them both. Leah doesn't know."

Leah was older than her. "You chose Harry."

"Yes. He was from the tribe." Sue busied herself fiddling with her blood collection equipment. "He was gentle and he made me laugh."

"He always made me laugh, too," Bella said.

"There. It's done and you didn't even notice."

Now she had said it, Bella could feel a warm tube across her arm; draining her blood. Eww. "Keep talking."

Sue chuckled. "So I suppose you could say I did it for the wolf pack."

Sue had admitted to Leah that she knew about the pack, during the intervention. "It's terribly selfish… but I'm glad," said Bella. "I'd much rather have Leah as my lover than my sister."

Sue smiled. "She might be your sister anyway."

"Ewww." Bella's face screwed up.

Charlie wandered into the room and saw her face. "Oh, is it the blood?" he asked.

"No." She frowned at him.

He looked confused. "What did I do?"

Bella rolled her eyes.

"And after I called Mrs Newton and everything," Charlie said.

"Oh, my God, I forgot."

"She asked if it was to do with your stalker. Is there something you need to tell me?" He had his cop face on.

"No. The day that Leah took out the gas station vampire, Paul came to work to guard me. He told her that he was there because I had a stalker."

Charlie nodded. "Smart man."

Bella noticed that he said man - not boy.

"And speaking of the gas station, I called George, too."

"Thanks, Dad. Leah was so tired, she just slept."

"Right. Slept." Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Ewww, Dad," Bella whined. Parents talking about sex was just too icky.

Charlie laughed and leaned across and kissed Sue. She looked pleased.


	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Alice and Jasper made their way to the Quileute wolf training ground. It was, of course, inside the tribal area, but Billy had given his consent to the treaty amendment. Sam and Jake had spent some time bringing him up to speed on everything that had been happening. He was unimpressed to have been left out so far. Luckily, Sue had thought to tell him what she knew, so they were not in as much trouble as they could have been.

He gave Jake one of his long silent looks. Jake looked away first.

"What was that about?" Sam asked Jake later.

Jake sighed. "I think I am doomed to be a disappointment to my father."

Sam shook his head. "I doubt that, Jake."

"Depends how high he expects me to go."

"True." Sam looked concerned.

"I can't talk about it now. After the fight, Sam."

"Okay. You know I am here."

"Yeah. Thanks, Sam."

Sam thought it probably had something to do with their new alpha pair, but he didn't push. He had made the offer, that was all he could do.

* * *

Paul was driving them out as close as they could get to the training ground so that Bella could walk in. Bella was telling them about Harry, Sue and Charlie. She had checked with Sue, first. Sue had looked nervous and then nodded and said something about the time for secrets being over. He parked the truck and they all got out.

"Twenty years?" Paul said. "Jeez, that's some serious blue balls."

Leah backhanded him across the chest. "Charlie had Bella, idiot."

"Oh, okay. Still some serious commitment." He grinned at Bella. "Must run in the Swan family." He kissed her, and then kissed Leah. "And the Clearwater women are worth waiting for, eh?"

"You're talking sappy shit again," she said. But she beamed at him and jogged off to see the pack.

"I am getting real good at this," he whispered to Bella.

"Sure, sure," she told him, with a snort.

Bella introduced Alice and Jasper to everyone. Kim and Emily were there, too.

Sam introduced the vampires to the pack and explained their wolf colors, as well.

Bella noticed Collin sidle up and stand next to Alice. He smiled when he realized he was much taller than her. Bella elbowed Leah and nodded her head at him. Leah looked and guffawed. Paul glanced the way they were looking and cracked a smile. Seth had teased Collin about being tiny like Alice, when Bella gave the pack her rousing speech.

"Okay everyone," Sam said, as he spread out a map. "This is what we have so far…" He told Jasper all the vampire names and their skills. The information that Fred had given them.

"I am a little concerned about their motives. With that many vampires. They can't all have fucked Victoria," Jasper pointed out.

"That's what Fred thought," Seth said.

"Yeah, I doubted that, too," added Paul. "It just doesn't seem like _enough_ motive. He did mention golden eyed freaks. They still think that you guys live here. That's what she has told them. You are 'unnatural' to quote him."

"Didn't sell the house," muttered Jake.

Bella glanced at him. She hadn't thought about that before. If Edward had really meant the family to leave her, why didn't they sell the house? Leah suddenly squeezed her hand. Bella held it tightly. Her heart rate must have given her away and Leah knew her so well.

"Ah," said Jasper. "In my years with the Cullens, I have seen some resistance to their diet from others of their kind."

Paul snorted.

"So they may have other motivations," Alice said. "She could even be paying them or fanning their dislike of our life choices."

"Money works for some humans," said Seth.

"And a vampire has skills that are a more intense version of their human ones," Jasper explained. "When someone has a particularly intense skill, it heightens after their transformation and becomes a power of some sort. Like James the hunter."

"So they could be ultra greedy?" Seth asked.

Sam looked at Alice. "So you had visions as a human?"

She hesitated but then answered him. "Yes. They thought me a witch. I saw my mother's murder. Nobody believed me, except her. She was very careful but one day she let her guard down, but it was ruled as an accident. Later, I had another vision. It was of my father and his new bride planning my death. I understood it was my father who had killed my mother. They put me in an insane asylum. And they 'buried' me the same day; even put up a headstone."

"Oh, Alice," said Bella. She looked horrified.

"Thank you for sharing something so personal," Sam said.

Alice shook herself and painted on a bright smile. "It is important that we trust each other. We need to back each other up in the battle."

Sam cleared his throat. "We know they are meeting at a spot near here." He pointed to a mark on the map. "Our initial plan is to park Bella's red truck at the hiking trail parking lot; as if she was going for a hike. She will walk the trail for a little distance and then 'cut' herself."

Jasper grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes. "I know, it makes perfect sense."

"She will leave a blood trail after that. We have to assume that Victoria has wound them up somehow to hunt Bella specifically. Could she already have something of yours? With your scent on it?"

"I don't know," Bella replied. "Perhaps. She could have taken something from the house after the Cullens left. Nobody would have noticed that."

"And just how does she know Bella will be hiking there?" asked Jared.

"Easy," said Embry, "Diego told her. He had a chat to Bella in the camping store and she told him she goes hiking on her day off. She told him her favorite spot and how she likes to picnic there and hike out before sunset. Because of that, she has moved the battle time to late afternoon."

Alice looked confused. "You talk to strange vampires?"

"Only dead ones," Bella said. "Victoria had him follow an animal blood diet so that I would see his gold eyes. But Leah killed him before he found me. Embry has his phone."

"And Victoria wouldn't let him kill you, because she wants to do it herself," Jasper said. "It fits."

Jake spoke. "She knows of the wolf pack. We have hunted her. But we don't think she has seen Bella with us."

"So she doesn't know you are friends?" Jasper checked.

"We don't think so. The only time we were together was to kill Laurent. And he didn't have time to tell Victoria that."

"And I ran home like a scared rabbit," Bella laughed.

"We'd like to use the same place for the trap," Sam said. "It makes sense that Bella would be back there."

Bella blinked rapidly. "The meadow," she said. The place she and Edward had lain in the wildflowers and discussed their impossible love. The place she was looking for when she had found Laurent.

"Oh," said Alice. **"That** meadow."

"What's wrong with the meadow?" Jake asked.

Leah held Bella's hand. She squeezed it back. "Nothing," she announced. "It's ancient history." She straightened her shoulders out. "I have to spill the blood myself."

"And I can help," said Kim. "You can't have wolves spill her blood, they'll just smell you and be warned that it is a trap. It **has** to be a human who does it."

"Kim?" Jared looked utterly horrified. "You c-can't-"

"Why not? They won't be here today, right? It's tomorrow afternoon. We'll be fine." Kim looked at Sam to check.

He studied her and nodded.

"But they'll scent you," Jared argued. "They will know you and come after you."

Kim huffed. "Jared, if you guys don't stop them, they'll be coming after us anyway."

Jared blinked, as if he had only just realized that. "Fuck!" he said. He looked around at them all in a total panic. "We have to stop them," he whispered.

"Duh," said Quil. "Where have you been?"

"I-I… didn't think." Jared sat down suddenly.

Embry glanced at him and rolled his eyes. "Your parents, my mother, everybody's loved ones, Jared. If they get past the pack; all our loved ones are toast."

"Especially once they know of the wolves," Jake said.

"Jeez, Jared," said Paul. "Get with the pack or fuck off home. We don't need this half hearted shit."

There was an awkward silence that Bella broke, "Yes, it has to be me who spills the blood. It's bad enough that it won't be fresh. They are vampires; blood is what they know and they will not fall for my blood on top of the wolf scent. They aren't stupid. We already know that." She looked at Kim. "Thank you for offering, I would appreciate having someone to walk with me."

Kim looked pleased. She glanced nervously at Leah and Paul. Paul winked at her and Jared growled.

Sam started again, "So, Bella will lay a blood trail to the edge of the clearing or close to it. If it all goes according to plan, we will be waiting for them, there." Sam pointed at Brady. "You will guard Bella. Alice will take her to Charlie's house in Forks, after she has laid the scent trail. I assume Charlie will want to be there, too."

"Yes, he does. I already asked him," Bella said.

"The wolf will block my visions," Alice protested.

"She's not staying with you without a wolf," Leah stated. Paul nodded.

"You won't be able to see the battle in any case, darlin', Jasper said. "Wolves there, too."

Alice sighed. "Fine." She folded her arms. "At least I won't get headaches."

"Why Forks?" Collin asked.

Sam glanced at Paul and Leah. "If Bella is who they are after, then the distance gives us some time to react. And its away from La Push. No offense Bella."

"None taken," she said. She bit her lip. The pack all knew that she hated being hunted and involving others.

"They won't attack people in Forks?" Embry asked. "How can you be sure?"

"We can't, but they were relatively sensible and well behaved in Seattle. They ate homeless people, you know?" Sam said.

"Right. They didn't start chowing down **on** the food hall at the mall," said Quil.

"Who is the fastest at phasing back and forth?" Sam asked.

"Probably Embry," Quil answered.

"Okay. He carries a phone. The rest of us don't need any crap tied to our legs. We can dump some clothing and first aid kits nearby in case we need them later. Brady can call Embry if there is an issue in Forks. Has everyone got the number?" He looked around the pack faces. "We think this is all about Bella, so it should work."

"I will carry a phone as well, so that Alice can call me," Jasper said.

"Fire?" Jake asked. "We might need one lit and covered or something."

"Good idea. I am not messing about with lighters in the middle of a battle either. We can dig a pit and set a fire in the bottom of it. Even if it burns down to embers, it will be enough."

"Quil's good at digging in wolf form," Jake joked.

Quil punched him in the shoulder.

"This is a large group with eight vampires, most don't bond into covens with more than four members," Alice said. "They tend to be more solitary. Our diet seems to make a difference, there."

"You don't have to be quite so secretive, or keep moving to find more food," Leah said. "Gives you the chance to form a relationship."

"Yes. So if Victoria has this many members in her group, they have not been together long enough to form any kind of familial bonds. Vampires are slow to change."

"So they might bail out, too. No loyalty," said Collin.

"Good point, Collin," said Paul.

"What if I was in the clearing?" Jasper asked. "As one of the unnatural yellow-eyed freaks."

"Oh, now," said Sam. "That would work. You going to join the fight?"

"It would be my pleasure."

"Put five wolves, which is all they expect us to have, behind you," said Paul.

"And the rest can sneak in behind the vampires. Pincer movement," said Jake.

"Cool," said Paul.

"That spider dude might hit the trees," Quil suggested.

"Victoria did that before, too," Jared said.

"Who's good at climbing trees?" Sam asked.

Seth held up his hand.

"Climb?" snorted Paul. "Just knock the fucking thing down."

Bella frowned at him.

"Oh, come on," he protested. "Niki's not here to give me shit about protecting the trees, so you have to do it?"

"Right," Sam clapped his hands together. "Training. Bella and Kim had better get going. Let's go, Jasper."

Leah kissed the side of Bella's head and jogged off. Paul blew her a kiss.

"I have bottles of water," Emily said. "Don't go walking without them."

"I have a bag. Sue packed for an army. How will I leave the truck tomorrow?" Bella asked.

"We'll work that out; do a car swap or something," Emily said. "Are you okay? You look a little shell shocked."

Bella just hugged her.

"You're not going to get lost, are you?" Kim asked her as they walked to the truck.

"No. Jake and I did the mapping together ages ago. The spot is marked on a map I still have in the truck, and my compass is on my backpack." She glanced at Kim. "What you have to worry about is me fainting at the sight of my own blood."

Kim laughed. "You're tough; you'll be fine."

Leah half watched Bella leave. She didn't like it; it made her itch to leave her alone, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

"So did he do it?" Quil asked as he walked and kept pace with Leah.

Embry hissed a warning as if Quil was going to get himself hurt again.

"Who? Do what?" Leah asked.

"Paul. Did he fuck you both at the same time."

Leah stopped walking and looked at him. She sighed. It was Quil. He wasn't going to let this go. "No, actually. He stacked us on top of each other and he did fuck us both, but he was pretty tired. I suppose technically it was more consecutive rather than simultaneous."

"Ah, okay," said Quil.

Leah watched him wander off.

She looked at Embry.

"He doesn't know what that means," Embry said.

"No. That's what I reckoned."

* * *

[AN: SM says that a coven of three is large for vampires, but then has almost **every** single vampire we meet in the books, part of a coven that large, or even larger. Add it to the list of her inconsistencies.]


	70. Chapter 70

**Chapter 70**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

The thudding noises started as Bella and Kim walked back to her truck. Bella shuddered. It sounded like cars banging into each other.

Kim noticed. "You've not been to training before?"

"No. And now I know why."

Kim laughed.

"Do they hurt each other?" Bella asked. She had never thought about it before.

Kim shrugged. "They heal fast."

Bella rifled around in the glove compartment. "I'm sure it is still here… ah. Got it." She pulled out the map and showed Kim.

Just as she was about to open the truck driver side door, Paul dashed, at super speed, down the path, swung Bella up in his arms and kissed her soundly. He placed her back carefully on her feet and dashed away again. "Holy Crow," said Bella as she hung onto the side of the truck.

Kim laughed and looked the way that Paul had gone. "He loves you."

"Never said it." Bella paused. "I'm sorry, that sounded rude. I meant, I think he does, he's just not good at saying that stuff."

"Strong, silent type."

"No, I have Leah for that. Paul talks to me."

"Yes, Leah." Kim looked down at the ground.

"Let's get going. The sooner we leave … you know the rest." Bella started up the motor and maneuvered the truck around.

Kim was silent. It was so different to the way she had been earlier that Bella was a little concerned. And then she realized that it was over Leah; Kim still hadn't apologized to her. "She scared me, too," she confessed, "Early on."

Kim glanced at her and said nothing.

"When I first met her. I thought she was so beautiful and so angry. Embry said she was nervous about her size and Quil said that she worried about her muscles, but I just thought she was gorgeous. And she wouldn't even say my name, she'd call me 'Swan'."

"That was ages ago."

"Yes, I was still at school. I got drunk and I kissed her."

"Brave girl. I remember when you announced you were dating and Sam got all worried." She glanced at Bella. "Jared told him off. Told him to get his shit together and to worry about his imprint."

"I didn't know that."

"You aren't Paul's imprint," Kim pointed out.

"I know, or Leah's. Remember?"

"She got rid of him for you."

"Yes. She did."

"That was… it took guts to do that."

"Yes."

"I spoke to Gemma."

"Good."

"Why does Gemma hate her?"

"I'm not sure. I think because Paul is with us, now."

"Maybe. She likes Paul."

"He doesn't like her."

"Everybody likes Gemma. She's real popular."

"Oh, no. Paul hates her. She propositioned him in the store. He told her to go away. He was probably rude about it."

"He would have told her to fuck off, I suppose."

"Yes. And Leah was there too. She just completely ignored her and kissed Paul right in front of Gemma."

"Wow. She wouldn't have liked that."

"Gemma?"

"She always gets what she wants."

"Well, she didn't get Paul. Not that time."

"I'm not pretty or popular," Kim said.

Bella thought she understood. Kim was very plain to look at. Paul had talked about Jared's imprint. He had said that Jared had never even noticed Kim before then. "You are better than that now; you're bonded to a werewolf."

Kim laughed. "Yeah. Weird, huh."

"We are like Mean Girls with furry back-up."

"No," said Kim, "The popular girls were horrible."

"Well that makes us the geeks and the lesbians." She laughed at her own joke and Kim laughed with her.

Silence for a little while.

"I thought she liked me," Kim said.

Gemma had probably been Kim's friend in order to get more information about the pack from her. It was hard for her to admit that she had been used.

"Jared adores you and when you look at him, it changes your face. You light up inside and you're beautiful."

"Oh."

"And we can call Gemma Regina George and she will never get the joke."

"And then she'll get hit by a bus."

Bella laughed. "I know how you feel. At my old school, nobody took any notice of me. And then I moved here and the first day at school I caused a scene. All these boys kept asking me out and then I dated Edward Cullen who had never even looked at a girl before then. It was heady stuff and so weird."

"Gemma helped me with things like makeup and hair." Kim nervously touched her hair.

"We can help you with that, too. Leah is brilliant with hair."

"She is?"

"She does my hair all the time. She is amazing at braiding, and ask Alice about makeup hints while she is here She's really good at that stuff."

"Us wolf girls have to stick together," Kim said.

"Yeah."

They had reached the trail head by then. "I have the blood in a container that Sue gave me. Can you do that bit?"

"Sure. It'll be our secret." Kim studied the bag. "The tubing has a stop-cock thingy on it so it will just roll open or closed. We don't want to cut a hole in it; there'd be blood everywhere."

Bella looked green at the thought.

"Your own blood makes you faint?"

"Yes. That how I kind of got together with Edward. I fainted during the biology blood test and he carried me to sick bay."

"A vampire?"

"I know right? He held me as far away from him as he could get." She tried to demonstrate it. "His arms out stiff like this."

Kim laughed. "Vampires and werewolves," she said, as she shook her head.

"It makes us special you know."

"I've never been special before."

"No, me either."

"Thanks, Bella."

They put on their packs, and started hiking. They chatted as they went about their plans for the future, school, college and so on. They were determined to be positive. And Bella was determined to be Kim's friend.

* * *

Jasper was drilling the pack members like soldiers. "Turn, jump, twist, and leap!" he shouted. They were human, at present.

Alice danced around. She was attacking Jasper as he drilled them. He wanted them to learn to watch in several directions and react while they were moving. "A fight is not a static thing. It follows no rules, like old time boxing." He flung Alice away but she twisted in the air and landed on her feet. "Your first instinct will be to run. That's a good one; most of the time people don't want to fight. You will probably both be frightened. Unless," he said as he threw Alice again, "one of you thinks you are superior or arrogant. And that arrogance is what will get you killed." He made an odd grunt noise. He stopped talking. They all looked at him. Alice was clinging to his back. Her hands were around his head as if she was going to twist his head off. She kissed him instead.

"Whoa," said Collin.

"Where did she come from?" Jasper asked. "Did any of you see?"

"She fell from the tree," said Seth. "Or jumped I suppose."

"Correct," said Alice. "And Jaz missed it."

"Take a break and have something to eat," Sam ordered.

You didn't need to tell the pack that, twice.

"All move over there, for me," Jasper said. He looked at his mate. "Come on, darlin', let's really show 'em what you've got."

Alice danced backwards and just stood there.

Jasper faced her; his back as rigid as it always was. He still stood like an officer of the civil War. Jasper pushed a foot back behind him and ran at her; she didn't move. She dodged him impossibly fast; so fast that it almost looked like she hadn't moved. Jasper was quick, but Alice danced away from him. The pack watched. She moved a fraction of a second before he hit her. They could tell he was not holding back. He did make contact and the crunch noise made them wince. They kept fighting.

"I told you she could fight," said Sam.

"She's so tiny," said Collin.

"Smaller doesn't mean weaker," said Jake. "Look at Leah."

Leah glared at him.

"Who is NOT weaker," Jake hastened to add.

Paul snorted. Leah glared at him.

"Hey. I didn't say anything," Paul protested.

Leah jumped on him and pushed his back down to the ground. He looked up at her completely unconcerned. "Are we gonna really show 'em what we've got?" He copied the way Jasper had spoken.

"What do you mean?"

"I reckon us together will be a match for those two."

"As wolves?"

"Yeah."

She smiled at him. She leaned down and kissed him. His arms locked around her and he rolled them over so that he was on top. They started wrestling with each other.

"Jeez, cut it out you two," Jake said.

"Yeah, Keep your clothes on," said Jared.

"Clothes off," ordered Jasper. "Time to phase."

Jared rolled his eyes. "This guy is like a drill sergeant."

"Don't demote me, Jared. I was the youngest major in the Confederate Army."

"In the Civil War?" Jared sounded incredulous.

"Yes, 1863."

"Cool," said Brady, "You guys are like a walking history lesson."

"Indeed. But right now, it is fighting that we are learning, not history."

Embry groaned. "Sam, I will never complain about your training sessions ever again."

"I'll remind you of that, Embry." Sam and Jake stood and whispered quietly together. "He's the most powerful of the Cullens, I'd say. Combine his ability to control emotion with his strengths."

"Yeah," Jake agreed. "Power, speed and death rolled into one."

"Lucky he's on our side."

* * *

By the time Bella and Kim got back, they were still training. They sat with Emily and watched them. Cheering loudly for their wolves. Bella was cheering for Paul, Leah and Jake.

"I need to learn to cook. It's not fair that Emily does all the pack cooking," Kim announced.

Emily looked surprised. "Sure, Kim, I don't mind teaching you and I'm sure Bella could too."

"We still live with Jared's parents and his mom doesn't like me trying to help. She sees it as a criticism. But one day, we might have a place of our own."

"Ask the Council," said Bella. "That's how Leah got our place."

"That's a good idea. Thanks, Bella."

"You might need to do some renovation work yourself. Like we did; we painted and…" She stopped.

Emily looked at her. "You okay, Bella?"

"I haven't been back there. We've been staying at Paul's."

"It's only been a couple of days. It will wait for you." Emily patted her hand.

"Where's Nate?" Bella asked her to change the subject.

"With Sam's mom. We'll see him when we get home, too."

When Jasper called a halt, everyone cheered. He and Alice went off to hunt. Their eyes were already looking dark.

Everyone headed home.

Leah and Paul walked towards her. Paul had his arm over Leah's shoulders. She was holding his hand where it hung over her chest. Her other hand was around his waist. They looked so perfect together. Bella sighed. They both looked up at her as if they had heard it; probably had.

Leah groaned. "Paul won't carry me and I am so tired."

"I'd carry you, but I don't think I could. Is driving you home enough?"

"No, to Mom's. She's cooked for us."

"Oh, thank God. I wasn't looking forward to that."

"Then you have to head off to Forks, with Charlie," said Paul.

"That's the plan?"

"Yes. Can I say I'm not happy about it," Leah said.

"I'll be fine. They won't get past you guys."

"Can we talk in the truck? I'm starving," said Paul.

"Help me up." Bella held her hands up and her lovers grabbed one each and pulled her to her feet.

"Pity," said Paul into her hair, "I so wanted to fuck you two again."

"Charlie likes you but he might draw a line at that in Sue's house," said Bella.

"Dessert?" Paul did the eyebrow lift.


	71. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

[AN: in this AU Bella didn't jump from the cliff. I only remembered that myself, after typing a whole section about that… whoops. But this is where I remember just how insane book Bella was. Sigh.]

Sue fussed and fed them all. Leah looked too tired to chew. Even Paul started to look like he was fading after he sat in one spot for a while. Charlie was there, he had come to collect Bella. She would leave her truck behind for the others to leave at the hiking trail. Everyone looked serious; even Seth's usual chatter was absent. He looked as exhausted as Leah did.

After dinner, the three excused themselves and went and lay on the new bed Sue had put in Leah's room. It was a guest room, now. They sandwiched Bella in the middle.

"I'm too tired for sex," Leah said. "I think that's a first."

"Can't help you there, Charlie gave me the evil eye," said Paul. "Is he armed?"

"Probably. We can talk instead," Bella suggested. "We haven't got much time."

"I know," Paul cooed. "But, this isn't goodbye."

"Oh, no, it's not," said Leah. "I meant to ask, it's your meadow; they didn't know that, they just chose it as the best cleared space."

"It's okay. It's not my meadow anymore - it hasn't been since Laurent."

"Because we killed him there?" Paul asked.

"No." She looked a little worried.

"What do you mean it was 'your' meadow?" Paul pressed.

Leah glanced at Bella but didn't answer for her.

Bella fiddled nervously with her clothing. "When I was going out with Edward, he and I had a special place. A place where we used to lie in the wildflowers and talk-"

"And make out?" Paul teased.

Bella smiled. "Yeah. Sometimes."

"And with that mega expensive beautiful house… you did it in a bare space in the forest?" Paul asked.

Leah snorted. "Listen to you, Mr let's-make-out-in-the-forest."

"Hey, I am indulging my animal side. He's supposed to be a cultured vampire, with an impeccable wardrobe. What was his excuse?"

Bella interrupted, "I've never told Leah this, but just after I came out of my depression, around the time when I was spending time with Jake… I imagined that I could hear Edward talking to me. I was a little bit crazy, I think. The last thing he said to me before he left me, was to extract a promise that I wouldn't do anything stupid or dangerous. I suppose breaking that promise made his voice appear."

Her lovers were silent, but they both touched her; made skin contact with her. A small confirmation that they were there with her and listening.

"That's nuts, munchkin."

"I know." Her voice was tiny.

"You weren't well," said Leah.

"Probably not - but who could I talk to? Even if I had gone to a therapist, I would have been committed if I had started raving about vampires and werewolves."

"So what would vision Ed say?" Paul asked.

"He would grouse at me if I was doing something he wouldn't approve of-"

"Like?" Leah asked carefully.

"Hang with young werewolves, ride motorbikes, approach strange guys outside of bars-"

Paul hissed.

"I didn't do anything," Bella protested.

Paul made a noise that indicated his disagreement. "Not for want of trying, girl."

"I suppose you're right, but in any case I was getting more reckless, so that I could hear him. I wanted to hear that voice, I was so thankful that my subconscious had preserved the sound of his voice. He took all the photos I had of him and I was half convinced that he couldn't have been as beautiful as I remembered him. The motorbikes didn't work after a while. I got too good at it. So I kept looking for the meadow. I thought that if I could find our special place, that his voice might be stronger there. Jake helped me draw the map and we did a few hikes together. Charlie told me not to go out in the forest-"

"It's a wonder you didn't jump off a damn cliff," Paul said.

"Jake didn't know why you were doing it?" Leah asked.

"No. I kind of lied to him."

"Weren't you hunting Victoria then?" Leah asked Paul.

"Yeah. Dead hikers all over the place." Paul frowned at Bella.

"And then Jake phased and wasn't talking to me. And I got worse. I was a mess; I had crippling pains in the chest. I felt as if parts of me were being torn away. I had nightmares. I'd wake myself up screaming my head off. Ask Charlie, if you don't believe me. I had weird dreams…" She pulled imaginary bits of lint from her shirt. "And I thought that if I somehow found that place and heard his voice, that it would make me feel better. So I went hiking alone. I-I found the meadow, but I was so disappointed. It was nothing like I had remembered it. It felt like another piece of me had been torn out. I fell to my knees, and when I looked up…" She paused. "Laurent was there."

"What did objecting Edward voice do about that?" Leah asked.

"Well that was it. He couldn't do anything. He told me not to run. He said that would make me look like prey. His voice told me to beg and that did nothing. As if vampires haven't heard people beg a hundred; a thousand times before? He told me to lie; to tell Laurent that the Cullens were still around and would be angry with him if he touched me. But Laurent knew I was lying."

"You can't lie for shit, munchkin."

She chuckled. "No. Can't lie to save my life. Demonstrably. I prayed for Edward to help me and he couldn't."

"So he wasn't any help?" Leah prompted.

"No. He was basically useless."

Paul snorted.

Bella touched his face. "And you guys saved me; not Edward."

Paul studied her. "You didn't know that, then."

"No. I remember lying in my bed that night wondering why he had run away from the wolves. I didn't know then, how strong you all were. I thought that vampires were indestructible. I was hoping that by some strange luck, the wolves would be able to catch up with the indestructible vampire and destroy him."

"And we did."

"And we'll do it again tomorrow," Leah added.

"To keep you safe," Paul added.

"I know and I can never thank you enough."

"Pfft. It's what we exist for," Paul said. He and Leah kissed a cheek each.

They cuddled closer.

Leah spoke. "While we are doing confessions… I think you should know that I overheard you and Bella break it off. After the ashes thing."

Paul gave her an odd look. "Why are you telling me that now?"

"I don't know…"

"Fuck's sake Leah, let it go. That's old news."

"I just wanted to be honest," she protested.

"Goddammit woman! There's honest and there's poke me with a stick."

"Oh, okay." She grinned at him. "I could poke you properly tomorrow." She sounded mischievous.

Paul growled at her. "I'll poke you," he threatened.

"Kiddo?" Charlie's voice rang out.

"In a minute," she called out. "Charlie wants to take me home. I think that he thinks he is protecting me."

"Let him; he's good at his job." Paul stretched and yawned. "I'm too tired to be much use tonight."

"Is someone patrolling near the house?" Bella asked.

"Yeah. Sam will send someone. Not sure who yet. And Brady joins you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Bella repeated. She sighed heavily.

"Don't worry," Leah said.

"I want a photo of us all," said Bella. "You know… just in case."

"You worry too much," Paul said. "We'll all be fine."

"Fast healing werewolves," Leah added.

"I will admit that Jasper is a scary bastard. How many bloodsuckers do you reckon he has finished off?" Paul asked.

"I'd say one for each bite mark he sports," said Bella.

"Shit! They wouldn't have got a second chance; you're right." Paul prodded Leah; her eyes were closing. "Don't go to sleep yet."

"Can we stay here?" she mumbled and fought to keep her eyes open.

"Sure. We just need to pose for this photo for Bella."

"Who's going to take it?" Leah asked.

"We'll do a selfy. You've got the longest arms, Paul." Bella handed him her phone.

They lay with their heads together. Bella in the center; their heads together on the pillow and all looking up at Paul's big hand.

He took more than one shot. It was like a sequence from an old style photo booth. In the first one they were all smiling but Leah looked tired. Then Paul pinched her and she tried to hit him, Bella cowered out of the way, then Paul kissed Leah. Then they both kissed Bella. The last one they all looked serious but somehow sure of themselves. And they were together.

Charlie knocked on the open door. "Come on kiddo," he said. "Time to go."

"Where's Seth?" Bella stalled.

"Already asleep, kiddo."

Sue insisted on a kiss goodnight. Leah and Paul walked her to the patrol car. Charlie shook Paul's hand. Leah hugged him. And then they each kissed Bella and hugged her very hard. She whispered, "I love you," into Leah's ear. She knew Paul hadn't said it, but she thought it was important that she did say it to Leah. She had come so far in the last couple of days.

"Love you, too, baby."

Bella blinked away tears. "I'll see you tomorrow." She sounded artificially bright, even to herself. She had to stop herself looking back.

The drive back to Forks was very quiet. Charlie kept glancing at her and rubbing his mustache.

Alice was waiting on the porch when they pulled up. It actually made Bella feel a little better to know that she was there.

"Alice," Charlie said. "You staying for a sleepover?"

"Yes." She lifted a bag. "I brought Bella some clothes, so it's just like a sleepover except for the fact that I don't sleep."

"Oh." Charlie looked flummoxed. "Not at all?"

"No. It's a side-effect of our different state."

"Damn. I don't think I'd cope with that. I like my sleep," Charlie said.

"Mostly in front of the television," Bella accused.

"Sleep is sleep." He hugged Bella. "Night."

"Alice? Can you stay in my room?"

"Of course." Alice sat in her rocking chair and kept watch. Bella didn't sleep well. In some of her fitful, restless periods, she could see Alice's tiny figure walking around the room or silhouetted against the window. Once, she heard the howl of a wolf. She kept wishing that she had told Paul that she loved him. Now it seemed silly to wait for him to say it first. But she wanted to say it to him, not down the phone, too.

She slept better when Alice put some extra blankets on top of her. The heat was familiar.

* * *

Sue watched the patrol car drive away. "Oh, I forgot to kiss Charlie."

"He'll be okay, mom. He's not in the fight."

"I know." But she frowned worriedly.

Paul and Leah went back to bed. They left the door open so Sue knew they weren't up to anything; her house rules.

* * *

The next day Bella pushed cereal around her bowl and ate almost nothing. Brady showed up and said that he had to be there, but Sam had told him he could stay human until after lunch. They played Monopoly together; none of them could agree on a movie to watch. Alice had no visions at all with Brady there. She looked worried. Jasper phoned her frequently.

They kept in touch with the others by phone, but Bella hated it; it wasn't enough for her. She held the phone tightly in her hand and had a little panic attack if she had put it down somewhere. She was desperately missing her wolves. She knew she was making Brady nervous and antsy. Finally in frustration, Bella suggested that Alice teach him a few fighting moves. They both leapt at the chance to do something physical. Alice and Brady assured her that none of the neighbors were home, so Bella sat on the back step and watched them spar in the yard. She kept glancing in the direction of La Push, as if she could somehow see where the wolf pack was.

She kept looking at the pictures on her phone and sighing; wishing this day could just be over.


	72. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Victoria and her coven moved quickly through the forest. Bella's distinctive red truck was parked at the trail head just as Diego had told them it would be. They followed the walking trail before they all detected the scent of human blood.

"It starts here," said one, pointing at the ground.

Riley sniffed at the blood. "It's hers. It matches the jeans you had, but it doesn't smell right."

Dean took a sniff as well. "This blood is not fresh."

They exchanged a serious look at what that meant.

"There is no sign of what she injured herself on, either. No jagged rock or broken branch."

Logan spoke, "If she injured herself, why wouldn't she go back to the truck and go home?"

They all started to talk over the top of each other.

"Or go to the doctor or something."

"Unless she injured herself earlier and is lying in the clearing?"

"Why would she keep hiking; walking away from her vehicle?"

"There is another scent here. It's human… but it smells different."

"Where are Diego and Fred?"

"Why haven't they met us here?"

"I don't like it."

"I think it's a trap."

Victoria let their words wash over her. She didn't like it either. Her niggling doubts about Diego's messages, started to add up. She knew it was a trap. She suspected now that both Diego and Fred were gone. Either or both should have been in contact with her; real contact, not just some text messages. And the fake Diego had arranged this meeting. That definitely worried her.

What did she do? Leave? Run? She was so close and she had put many months of effort into this plan. She knew the wolves would be waiting for them, but she also knew that the wolves would not have Bella there; for any number of reasons. No, their delicate little flower would be hidden somewhere else. Somewhere where they could protect her from both the fight and from seeing them fight; seeing their true nature would be too much for the hamburger.

Her father's house. That's where she would be. The chief of police. It felt right to her. It was what she would have done.

"Casey, climb a tree. Can you see anything?"

He scuttled up the tree and took a look. "Yes, the clearing is up ahead." He peered into the distance. "It looks empty, but I can't see all of it. Wait a second… there's a fire burning. Set in a neat pit."

"So, she's there?" asked another. The pit suggested someone human was.

"Good. Jim, I trust you to lead the others." He had the best leadership skills. The five wolves could be taken out by her seven remaining vampires. She had other things to do. And if they didn't make it, they would be a diversion. The wolves would be busy stopping them and she could find her target unimpeded. She thought about taking one of them with her, but then rejected it, it would put pay to the lie that she was meeting the others. She couldn't risk it. She worked better alone. Sometimes she regretted making this coven.

But this was her last ditch attempt. The Cullens will hear of her targeting of their little pet. She cannot avoid the visions of Alice Cullen forever. She cannot run away now with the job half done.

"I will find Diego and Fred and join you later. They will never expect reinforcements." She laughed prettily.

They looked at her with eyes that already doubted her.

She escaped that, too; she ran. She didn't say goodbye.

* * *

The pack were hidden in the forest. Ears straining for the slightest sound. The forest itself was quiet, as if the wildlife had some sixth sense of the coming battle and had run for it. Leah was losing it. Her creeping sense of dread was infecting the pack. They were all starting to get antsy as Leah's disastrous visions of the rez invaded by vampires and her loved ones dead or injured, played through her head. Nobody knew what to do. Sam couldn't order her not to think about it and he didn't know what to say, other than telling her often, that it would all be okay. Sam wondered if she'd go home if he ordered her to, he doubted it; she had ignored his orders for a while now.

Paul's wolf trotted over and stood in front of her. He made an odd whine noise and then he phased human. Paul stood naked in front of Leah's wolf. She looked at him quizzically. The visions stopped and instead became warmer memories of Paul. The pack sighed in relief.

"Phase back, please," he asked her.

She tilted her wolf head. It was an obvious question.

"Yes, now. I want to talk to you. Human." He paused. "Please."

She phased.

He stepped towards her. He put a hand on each side of her face.

"Look at me. We'll get through this," he told her.

She nodded but she looked doubtful.

"I just wanted to say that days ago you were so lost in your own body that you couldn't even walk properly. You looked like a puppet with someone pulling the strings and today you are standing here - and you are together and whole, and ready to fight for what matters to you. I am really proud of you. You are a kick ass alpha female."

"Oh," she said. She blinked rapidly. "Thanks."

He let her face go. "And I love you," he added.

She took a quick breath. She pressed her lips together. She didn't smile, it looked as if she couldn't because her lips were held together so tightly. She wiped a tear from her cheek. She just nodded at him. She couldn't speak. Then she suddenly threw herself forward and kissed him desperately.

"Tell me later," he said in her ear, "after this."

She nodded. She phased back to her wolf form. Her head lifted. Now she radiated self-confidence; an assurance that they would have something after this.

And the whole pack believed her now.

* * *

The vampires looked at each other. "Do you believe her?"

"No." Jim shrugged. "But I've seen a few things, and fought a few more things. But I've never seen a werewolf in the sunlight. They are creatures of the night."

"I wouldn't want to have Victoria hate me," another suggested.

"True."

"There is someone in the clearing, to make that fire."

"Did she double back?"

"Hard to tell; the blood overpowers other scents."

"The truck is still there."

"So we do this? Kill the girl and then go?"

"If the golden-eyed freaks are with her, we kill them, too. They are weaker than us if they don't drink human blood."

They all nodded. Some took a tiny second longer to agree. But in the end they were united.

"Casey?" He was still up the tree.

"Nothing. No movement at all."

"Okay let's do this," Jim ordered. "Spread out and stalk forwards as quickly and silently as you can."

They started towards the clearing.

* * *

Jared spotted movement in the trees. Seth had the best pack hearing and Jared had eyes like binoculars. He nodded at Jasper; the rest of the pack got a warning. _They're coming._

The wolves all took a breath. It was really happening. As Jasper had told them, they felt an instant of panic and then got it under control.

They watched and listened with their enhanced senses.

Of course, the vampires had incredibly keen senses, too. They also possessed superhuman powers, such as speed and strength. But they weren't wolves. Normal wolves can hear for miles. Six miles, in fact. And the big physical factor where the wolves had them beat was in their sense of smell. A wolf's sense was so acute that they could take a sniff of your hand and tell you pretty much everything you had touched all day.

But the wolves had an even bigger advantage and that was what they were fighting _for_.

Jasper moved out of the trees and towards the edge of the clearing where the invaders could see him.

The vampires had their own reasons for fighting. Some of them had been told of a family of vampire freaks, but facing them in that clearing there was only one, not seven as they had been told. They felt a tinge of disappointment.

The freak stood silently at the edge of the forest. When they didn't speak, he called out, "Hey, y'all!"

The vampires moved swiftly across the space towards him. But, as they approached, wolves slunk from the forest behind him. They stepped on large silent paws. Their eyes focused on the intruders. Their hackles raised. The freak didn't react to the appearance of the wolves.

They were working together!

These wolves were not the standard natural wolf, they were much larger for a start. Once they got closer to the vampire, who looked to be about six foot three, they could see just how big these wolves were. They were as tall as he was. Some of the vampires had seen children of the moon, as vampires termed them, before. They were real werewolves who changed when the moon was right. But it was not night-time and these were not even normal werewolves. Nothing had prepared them for this. These wolves were massive; the size of horses. Preternaturally large and their eyes held an almost human intelligence. They moved as a unit, smoothly and in sync. A massive black wolf stood at their head. He was undoubtedly their leader, and at his shoulder stood an even larger russet wolf.

Either Victoria had lied or she had been ignorant of the truth. Either was an issue. But, there was only five of them and seven vampires opposed them. The odds were not as good as Victoria had promised; ten to five was reduced to seven to five. Plus the freak.

The freak pulled his shirt over his head and threw it on the ground. He stepped away from the edge of the trees and forward into the sunlight that shone onto the clearing. Naked from the waist up, the light hit his skin; to their enhanced eyes, he almost sparkled the way they would have under a bright sun to a human, but his hard skin reflected the sheen of multiple vampire bites. Dozens of them; maybe hundreds. His skin was absolutely covered in scars, spaced most thickly together on his neck and jaw. They knew that as many vampires had probably died as had bitten him. An attacker would not have walked away.

And then they heard a tiny twig crack behind them. One of them spun around to find a further four gigantic intelligent wolves standing behind them. Their approach had been almost silent. "Four more," a panicked vampire said. Any that had been thinking of running had to scrap that plan. They were trapped. The wolves were branching out to cut off the side exits.

Nine wolves, not five. And the rear ones were herding them towards the others. The vampires took small steps; uncertain of what to do.

Doubt crept in. The odds were no longer in their favor. Victoria had **definitely** misled them. Her hastily convened coven was doing this for her. For whispered words muttered during sex acts they now suspected were not good enough to balance out the cost. Or for money they suspected they would never have the time to spend.

And she had left them. Victoria had promised she would join them in battle, but later. Something about the element of surprise.

Now, they doubted her word.

A realization struck…

They were all going to die. They all knew it.

Jasper laughed with delight. He hadn't done a thing to tweak their emotions; this was their own insight.

"We have to fight," Jim said. They exchanged glances and they decided he was right; fight was the only option. Fight for their lives; or for their continuing existence.

But, here too, the wolves had the advantage. They were not fighting for themselves or for money. They fought for the lives of others. For their lovers, their imprints, their parents, their families and their tribe. They hadn't been bitten or turned for whatever flimsy reason people chose to join the ranks of the undead. The people who wanted to be beautiful or immortal or stronger or never age. And how illogical was it to die to avoid death? The wolves knew that you avoided death by having children. Seeing your features in the faces of your children was how you became immortal.

And these wolves were chosen by their gods. Gods much older than the eldest of vampires.

Chosen.

Because it had taken hundreds, maybe even thousands of years to produce them; not the simple act of sinking vampire fangs into a vein.

The wolves existed** just for this**.

Jasper didn't even try to influence the pack's emotions. They were euphoric and utterly sure of themselves. If anything he drank it down; reveled in it. He had been almost a savage when he had been part of Maria's coven. He had been so refined; so well behaved, so good with the Cullens. He even refused human blood and pushed down his baser instincts. And now he could let it all go. Alice was not here to see him and he knew the wolves blocked her visions. Jasper had a leave pass.

The wolf pack emotions were all just out there. And shared between the pack mind to make them more intense. Jasper rejoiced in them like wallowing in a bath. Love, lust, and blood thirst. It was amazing. An empath rainbow.

With a side order of complete panic. Jasper suddenly realized the wolf emotions were sliding all over the place. And a look confirmed why. Victoria was not with them.

Leah was screaming inside their heads. _She's not here. She's not here. She's not here. Bella… Forks…_

Her panic was about to take Paul with her. If they ran from the battle, the pack were fucked.

Quil: _Where's the redhead?_

Seth: _Did she go for Bella?_

Jared:_ I can't see her in the trees._

Jake: _FUCK. How did she know?_

Chaos and chat took over the pack mind.

Sam: _**NOBODY MOVES. NOBODY SPEAKS.**_

It was an order.

_Sam, it's Bella!_ Leah wailed.

She really could ignore his orders. Confirmation at the worst possible time.

Sam:_ Brady? You there?_

Brady_: yeah, Sam._

Sam_: the redhead might be coming your way. She's not here with the others._

Brady: _Okay, I'll tell Alice._

Leah: _We need to go help them._

Sam: _NO. Alice and Brady are with her. Do this, and then go check on her. But we do this FIRST. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?_

Leah almost whimpered, but she stopped herself. It was a dead giveaway. She would not show weakness to the bloodsuckers.

Leah:_ Paul?_ It implied a question. _Would he go with her if she ran?_

Paul: _Victoria knows we will kill them all. She knows she would die here. That's __**why**__ she isn't here, and that means we must win. So let's do it; kill them all, Leah. Then we will know Bella is safe and we can go find her to make sure._

His mind played through the plan; with colorful added illustrations of vampires being dismembered and burnt.

Paul: _ARE you with me?_

Maybe he was asking Leah and maybe he wasn't but, in any case, the whole pack answered him.

_YES_.

Jasper couldn't hear any of this, but he could feel them go from panic through a range of emotions and then they hit deadly earnest. It had taken seconds. He didn't ask. No time, now and maybe they'd tell him later. He was rather glad he didn't have Edward's gift; actually hearing their thoughts would have been too much.

"Charge!" he shouted as if he was still leading a cavalry unit.

The vampire hands curled into talons.

The two groups crashed into each other. The wolves were growling, but then it stopped. Jasper had coached them that if they growled, they gave away their position. Now they were utterly silent; swift and deadly and moving on giant paws. At least to their attackers. Here, the pack came into its own; they shouted and called to each other within the pack mind. Ordered and whooped. Warned and praised.

_Atta boy, Collin. Behind you, Jake! Go, Leah! He shoots, he scores._

The air was full of ear splitting metallic shrieks as parts of vampires were torn away. Sharp crunches and cracks as smaller pieces were bitten off.

They knew the exact location of the fire and constantly tossed the bitten off pieces into it as they fought. Re-attachment of limbs would not be allowed. The pieces sputtered and flamed as the heat ignited the spilled venom. Any vampire facing eternity without a hand or a foot seemed to lose the will to fight.

Leah and Paul worked together as a seamless unit. Paul grounded her; stopped her running after an escaping leech, when there was another one closer that they could take out. They stayed close to Collin without him realizing that they were watching him. And Seth. Leah's brother was always a prime focus for her wolf.

Embry and Quil were almost as good as a fighting pair. Quil threw a vampire into the trees, but after it crashed into the branches and fell to earth, it landed on its feet; its hands ready to strike again.

_Fuck it, _Quil swore. _And that one was heavy._

The next vampire he readied to throw, he shouted,_ Catch, Embry._

Embry rocketed off the ground and caught the vampire in mid-air, like a dog catching a Frisbee. He tore his head to the side and the vampire with no purchase, could only clutch at the wolf body. Off balance and falling, with its greater weight, the vampire tore parts of itself away as Embry fell and landed neatly on his paws quite some distance from the stricken vamp with a large part of it held in his jaws.

_Woo hoo,_ Quil crowed, as he leapt on the hard body to finish the job.

Embry dashed to the fire, spat the piece in and turned to run and fight again.

They had trained so hard and had been so tired, but that tiredness evaporated with their success. Jasper had them moving so constantly during training, that the chaos of the battle seemed almost familiar. Now they comprehended why they needed to not stand still. It was so different to tracking, chasing down and tearing apart a single vampire, as they had been used to.

Jasper was in his element. He and Alice had been caught in the occasional fight and he had spent most of the time rushing around trying to protect her. He knew she could protect herself, but he could not stop himself. Now, with her absence, he was free. And he was unstoppable. If a wolf got grabbed, he was there to haul the vampire off it and away. The pack avoided him; they knew his scent and he was making a lot of noise, hooting and hollering.

Paul and Leah killed with ruthless efficiency; taking out opponents as quickly as possible. They wanted to get to Forks and Bella. After initially wanting to chase everything, Leah found her center and she seemed to calm down. She realized that she could tell who needed help and she was instantly there. With Paul as back-up. She was the pack's fastest.

There was an occasional yelp of pain as a vampire got the upper hand or inflicted an injury.

Eventually the last bloodsucker was beheaded by Sam and Jake. Its headless torso crashed into the gouged up earth before Sam dragged it towards the fire pit and Jake tossed the head in with an expert flick of his massive head.

There was an eerie pause. The fire crackled. Every one panted and looked around.

They had won.

Once it was clear that they had won, the two gray wolves ran across the field towards each other. The pair wheeled, shoulder to shoulder and ran into the forest. They needed to check on Bella. It was all that they had in their heads; love and concern for her. The pack let them go.


	73. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Victoria knew where Charlie's house was. It was so easy to find the home address of the Chief of Police in such a small town. Hicks. She knew she had the right house, in any case. It reeked of the little hamburger, Swan.

Near the house, she thought she got a whiff of her mate, James. A scent so familiar to her, she could detect it easily after more than a year and a half. It made her unbeating heart hurt. Of course! He would have tracked Bella to here.

She pulled herself together. She could hear voices. A female one, human, it made her think of baseball games and her losses; Bella Swan. She rejoiced that she was right. But then she heard another voice; one that belonged to a vampire. A tiny bright voice that made her grip her hands into fists; Alice Cullen.

She knew the Cullens would not leave their pet unprotected. She listened very carefully. She could hear another heart beat; a remarkably rapid one. She sniffed. An odor of dog hit her. Ugh. One of those pesky wolves was here, too.

They were here. The Cullens knew what she had done. Even if she left now, the Cullens would hunt her down and kill her. Edward had tried to chase her before. He wasn't very good at it, but he had tried. He had even more reason to do it, now. And the Volturi would find her and execute her for making a coven with more than five vampires. Competition was something that they did not tolerate. And she had escaped them once. It would not happen again.

But she was doing this for James. He had killed every single thing he had ever decided to hunt. Even the vampire who had made the hunting bet with him and only beaten him by turning him into a vampire as well. It had taken some time, but he had eventually tracked him down and ended him. The only two people he had not caught were Victoria and Alice. Victoria because she had used her gift to escape him, until fascinated by that, he had joined up with her instead.

But Alice was different. She was his singer. That special human creature that vampires sometimes found who was utterly irresistible to them.

Immediately after the baseball game where they met the Cullens, James told Victoria about Alice. He had been amazed to see her in that field. Her presence was what had really ignited his need to hunt. Victoria could not talk him out of it. Alice was the crazy girl with the visions that he had found in the mental institution. And he had tormented her to make her visions worse. She had been taken away from him by a hospital attendant who had been a vampire. Saved by being turned so that she could fight him. _**His**_ singer. And it had irritated James for decades that he had never tasted her blood. His singer; tasted by another vampire. He had killed that vampire, but it hadn't made him feel any better.

And he had deliberately left newborn Alice alone to see if she could make it. He had an idea that he might hunt her down later. Imagine his surprise when he saw her in that field dressed in a ridiculous baseball costume.

James had eschewed modern things; he hated cars and didn't even wear shoes. Playing baseball was frivolous and silly. He had decided to hunt Bella to torment Alice some more. Bella was her friend. And because it was great sport to hunt a precious little human guarded by seven vampires, even if they were weak and drank animal blood.

Alice was the one that had got away.

Victoria had never met her singer; in some ways she thought it had been James. They had been so perfectly matched. And she had adored him. Reckless as he was; life with him was never boring. Not like those strange Cullens with their odd diet and their weird need to pretend to be human. They were all too old for high school attendance.

It all seemed linked together. All those years ago Natives had killed James's parents, and the wolves were all Native American members of the local tribe. It all made sense to Victoria that the pieces would come together now: wolves, natives, Alice and Bella. Together. A perfect set.

Now she heard a male voice, a young one. But no added heartbeat. So, they could change back and forth quickly. Good to know.

As she was reminiscing, a car came down the street. It was a police patrol car. Bella's father was driving. He looked around as if he was expecting trouble. She snorted. He had no experience of vampires. Silly man. She let him get out and walk towards the front door of the house.

By the time Charlie had opened the door, she was behind him; her hand around his throat. "Chief of Police," she whispered in his ear. Her nails dug into his skin. He smelt distractingly like Bella. Same blood.

"You must be Victoria," he said. Brave man; his voice didn't shake.

"We need to go inside." She thought that the wolf would be at a disadvantage inside the house. Open spaces were their preferred fighting place.

* * *

They had won. Once it was clear that they had won, the two gray wolves ran across the field towards each other. The pair wheeled, shoulder to shoulder and ran into the forest. They needed to check on Bella. It was all that they had in their heads; love and concern for her.

The pack tallied up the injuries; a couple of broken bones, more than a few scratches, bruises and gouges. No one had complained about a major injury. Most of the pack were still phased. Too excited and overcome to phase back. They scoured the ground to find all the pieces of vampire and add them to the smoking fire. The purple smoke smelt like a too heavy incense; cloying and sickly sweet to their enhanced senses.

Suddenly they got images from Brady. He had been phased and listening in to the meadow battle while he kept guard on Charlie's place. They had picked up an occasional whine that he was missing out. But now there was spike of panic.

_It's her! The redhead._

Jake: _Shit! She's at Charlie's!_

Sam: _go Brady, fight._

Paul: _help Alice, Brady._

Suddenly, Brady dropped out of the wolf mind.

The pack heard Leah and Paul howl.

* * *

Victoria locked the door behind them. No sneaking up behind her. She held Charlie firmly around the neck with one hand and forced him to walk through his home. "Bella?" she called out in her child-like voice. She could see them out the kitchen window. They jolted at the sound of her voice.

"Run, Bella," said Alice.

The wolf growled.

"You run and he dies." She watched Bella's face twist with anxiety.

"O-okay."

"Good girl." Charlie tried to say something but it turned into a choking noise as she tightened her hold. "Inside. You!" she pointed at the wolf, "Human."

Alice slipped in the door and stood near the table. She looked wary.

The wolf folded in upon itself and left a naked boy behind. He looked half annoyed, half terrified. He held his hands awkwardly across his groin as he walked into the house.

Victoria laughed at his embarrassment.

"Leave him alone," Bella hissed at her. She stood in front of the boy. "He's only thirteen."

"Fourteen," he corrected, as he pushed her behind him.

"As if it makes a difference," said Victoria.

Maybe it was thoughts of James, but Victoria felt like taunting her victims today. Usually she didn't bother, but it had taken her so long to get here.

"What a set," she started, "You don't know, do you girl?"

"Know what?" Bella asked. She was trying to delay. She knew that Brady must have spoken to the pack when he was phased. She didn't think the vampire knew the pack could communicate like that. Someone would be coming for her; maybe two of them.

"My James... you remember my James?"

Bella wordlessly held out her wrist.

Victoria laughed. "So close?"

A phone rang somewhere. Everybody stiffened, but nobody could move. Brady's eyes flicked to the kitchen counter. It had to be his phone. Victoria ignored it. It eventually stopped.

She glared at Alice. "Which one of you killed him?"

Alice gave a delicate shrug. "I'm not sure. It could have been Emmett or Jasper."

"Why is this hamburger so special?" Victoria asked with a head nod at Bella.

Alice answered her, "She is Edward's il suo cantante."

"His what?" interrupted Bella.

"It's Italian," Victoria explained, "It means the blood sings to you. Sometimes a specific human will smell nearly irresistible to a specific vampire."

"He told me I was his own personal brand of heroin," Bella muttered. Everyone kept telling her she smelt good, now she knew why.

The redhead's face twisted. "He equated you with a drug?" She chuckled. "One he gave up?"

"I suppose," Bella said.

"STOP!"

Brady had been trying to inch around, closer to Charlie.

"Knee," said Alice.

Brady blinked.

"Oh, good idea. Kneel, dog."

Charlie uttered a groan that sounded painful. Victoria was six inches shorter than him and she had his back bowed so that his head rested on her shoulder.

"Another singer," she said.

"Another one?" Bella asked.

"Alice, was James' singer."

Alice looked completely horrified. "Oh, my God," she whispered. "Him. He hunted me."

"That was why he hunted your friend," Victoria gleefully told her.

"Bella, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be silly, it's not your fault." Bella wanted to hug Alice, but she couldn't risk moving. "Did he turn you?"

"No. In the asylum... a friend did. He believed me. He used to play games to test my gift. Can you guess what I have in my hand? Stuff like that. He turned me to save me from the hunter."

"And you don't remember James?" Bella asked.

"The electroshock therapy... it messed with my memories." She looked as if she was trying to remember. "He took me out of the asylum and then left me."

"He intended to hunt you later," Victoria said.

"I woke up in a cave. But the venom ... the pain erased all of my memories, just like the electro-shock treatments did. I had my first super clear vision." She looked at Bella. "It was of Jasper becoming my mate and of a happy future with the Cullen family."

Victoria rolled her eyes.

"James loved his hunting," Bella suggested, to keep the flame haired vampire talking.

"He had to hunt to eat. Natives killed his parents. Like this one." She went to aim a kick at Brady; exactly as if he was a dog she hated.

"Now!" Alice shouted.

Brady hit out at Victoria's knee and broke the joint with a metallic shriek. She screamed and tightened her grip on Charlie's throat. He put an arm up to her face and stuck his fingers in her eyes. Alice hit her body; pushing the pale vampire backwards. She let go of Charlie and he collapsed to the floor; gasping for breath.

Bella knew better than to move. In fact, she stepped backwards and pressed against the wall.

Brady phased. He grabbed Victoria's body in his massive jaws; trapping one of her arms as Alice brushed her face against the redhead's neck and bit her head off. Brady dragged the body through the screen door and into the back yard.

Alice grabbed the gas lighter by the stove and threw it out to him through the hole in the wrecked door. She grabbed the head by the long red hair and tossed it out, too.

Bella dashed to her father's side.

"Bella? Is he okay?" Alice asked as she grabbed the broken leg and threw it out to Brady as well.

"She bit him!" Bella panicked.

"Snake bite," Charlie muttered.

Bella understood. He wanted her to apply a tourniquet. She ripped his belt off his uniform and tightened it around his upper arm. The bite was on his wrist, oddly mirroring hers. While she was doing that she tried to convince Alice. "Alice," she begged. "You have to save him."

He screamed; the pain must have been excruciating.

Bella knew exactly what it felt like. She had felt it before in a dance studio in Phoenix.

His body arched on the ground as his spine bent backwards. He tried to scream again but no noise came out. It was worse.

"I-I can't. Don't ask me to do that." Alice looked panicked and nervous. "Jasper," she said.

"You HAVE to. Jasper is not here. You have to get the venom before it spreads. Please Alice. It's my f-father."

"For you, Bella. I'd try, but I can't 'see' it."

Charlie's life was so intrinsically bound up with the wolf pack now, he was another black spot in Alice's visions. She couldn't see if he would survive this.

"It'll work, Alice. You didn't see him as a vampire, did you? If he's black, then he's alive. I have faith in you. I know you can do it."

"Will you forgive me if I turn your father?" Alice asked her.

"He's already turning, Alice. And you didn't do it. I want you to stop it."

Alice didn't answer her, she just lowered her mouth to Charlie's wrist and started sucking. Bella loosened the tourniquet.

When Charlie stopped screaming and started to pass out, Bella thought Alice had probably done enough.

"Alice," she warned. But she didn't stop. Bella heard Edward's voice. _Vampires are like sharks. Once we start feeding, we cannot stop._ Strangely, now his advice was useful.

"Alice! Stop! You're killing him!" She smacked at her, but her hard body just hurt her hands. She didn't even feel Bella hitting at her.

Bella picked up the kitchen chair and she hit tiny delicate little Alice with it as hard as she could. She hit her again until parts of the chair broke off against her marble body. She picked up the broken leg and hit her again and again until Alice's head lifted and she made an awful guttural noise that Bella hoped to never hear a second time.

The screaming had clearly alerted the neighbors and she could hear sirens in the background. She prayed that one of them was an ambulance. Maybe her constant visits to hospital would ensure that they would send one anyway to the Swan address.

Alice stood. She looked ravaged; blood dripped down her chin and stained her designer clothes. Her eyes were already turning red. She put her hand up to her mouth. "I'm sorry," she gasped, and then she ran at vampiric speed out the back door and into the forest.

Bella managed to lift her father's unconscious body onto her lap. She hugged him. "Please don't die, please don't die," she repeated. She heard knocks at the door. By then she couldn't speak, she was crying so hard, so she just screamed.

They kicked the door in.


	74. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

_**[AN: I couldn't decide who got seriously injured so I drew them out of a hat - no, actually I used a list and a random number generator. I'm not completely prehistoric. Lol]**_

The pack stood on the field of battle. Embry phased human and rang Brady. His hands still shook, but he managed to dial. It seemed the faster way to him, but he knew Bella's lovers were more wolf than human right now, and it hadn't even occurred to them to ask him to call her. There was no answer.

The pack all looked at him. He shook his head.

Seth:_ Shit! There's nothing we can do, is there?_

Nobody answered him.

"Try again in a few minutes. If he can call you back, he will," said Jake. He had phased back easily.

They kept collecting small pieces of vampire and burning them.

Embry's phone rang and he made a hurried grab for it. "Yes?"

"Embry?" Brady sounded utterly panicked.

"Talk."

Garbled words filled the line.

"Is Bella hurt?" Embry interrupted.

"No."

"Victoria?"

"Alice and I killed her and I burnt her."

Embry was already talking to Quil. "Quil, tell them she's okay and Victoria is ash." The chocolate wolf nodded.

As Quil got the message through to Paul and Leah, relief surged through the pack mind, closely followed by something else. A desperate need to reconnect. It came from the alpha pair. They didn't order anyone; they just threw them all out. The rest of the pack found themselves human and naked in seconds.

Jasper laughed; he couldn't help it.

"Where are you?" Embry asked Brady.

"I was just about to phase. I'm on my way back to the rez. But Embry, Charlie got bit."

The pack members all heard that.

"Fuck!" said Embry. "Is he…?" he couldn't finish that question.

"No, I think Alice sucked the venom out."

"Jesus."

"But he's … he's not good, Em. But I couldn't stay," Brady added, "There were cops and everything, I had to go. I left Bella."

Embry glanced at Sam who made an half shrug movement. "Was there an ambulance?"

"Yeah."

"You did your best, Brady. We can talk later." He hung up.

"Fuck. How did they do that? Throw us all out?" Sam asked aloud. "Stay human," he ordered. "Just in case."

"For how long?" whined Seth.

"Yeah," said Collin. "It's a long walk home."

"At a guess," said Embry, "I'd say at least an hour; maybe more than one. Might be less, if they think about Bella. But half a day. Just to be on the safe side."

"They know she is safe now," said Quil. "And they don't know about Charlie."

"Yep," said Embry. "And that is the only reason why they are doing it now."

"Doing what—?" Collin asked. Then his face cleared. "Shit. They are going to go for it aren't they? Fuck as wolves."

"Yep. Lucky bastards," said Quil enviously. "They will be locked together for an hour, I reckon."

"Okay. I get it. I do not want to be in their heads for that," said Collin.

Jared wiped at his eyes. "One fucker threw dirt in my eyes. Anyone got a bottle of water."

Seth was spitting on the ground. "Fuck. I need gallons of mouth wash. I may never eat candy again."

"Jeez, Seth. Way to ruin candy for us all," whined Collin.

A phone rang in someone's discarded clothing.

"Find that. Now," Sam ordered.

"Hold on there, Sam. It's mine," said Jasper.

It was Alice. She confirmed what Brady had told them. Bella had gone to the hospital in the ambulance. She sounded almost hysterical herself.

Sam looked the way the alpha pair had gone. They couldn't tell them about Charlie. It would have to wait. He sighed. "Okay, let's keep going on the burning. Collin, find the first aid kit and the clothes stash. Embry, call Sue and tell her we need a pickup; more than one. Get someone to collect Brady too. They can call him to find out exactly where he is. Tell her the injuries list, too." He looked around. "What are the injuries?" Then he caught sight of Quil's shoulder and arm. "Fuck me, Quil. That looks bad."

"I'd shrug, but I can't," Quil said and then he fainted.

Embry sat with Quil and talked to Sue about what his injuries were. "They're coming, Quil," he told him.

"Stay silent, Jasper?" Jake chided.

"It was…um… deliberate so that you wouldn't tear me apart."

Jake gave him a look.

"Yeah. I got a little carried away there. I need to go. Alice has never tasted human blood before; she's freaking out a little."

"Sure, sure. Go to her, Jasper. Thanks for all your help."

"Yeah Jasper, thanks, "Sam echoed. "And thank Alice for us, too."

"We might stick around and make sure that Charlie pulls through. Alice loves that man. We'll be at the Cullen house." The tousle headed vampire shook everyone's hand before he left.

"There's a new chapter of vampire, werewolf relations," commented Jake.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "I think I like him. Away from the other Cullens, he's just fine."

Embry's phone rang.

"Embry, I can't phase. Can someone come and get me?" whined Brady.

* * *

Bella felt incredibly helpless. They had wheeled Charlie in, then shut doors in her face as they rushed him into the emergency room. One of the nurses who knew her well, had patted her on the arm and assured her that if she waited here in the waiting room, that they could talk to her as soon as they had any news to tell her. She went to the bathroom and washed her face. She looked at her reflection and decided she was too much of a mess to even start trying to tidy herself up.

She sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair with her knees up and her arms wrapped around them. She was holding herself together.

Deputy Mark sat down next to her. "You okay?" His hand lifted as if he wanted to touch her and then decided better of it.

She shook her head mutely. She knew Deputy Mark. She often baked cookies and cupcakes for Charlie to take to the station. She was lucky it wasn't Deputy Steve; he was a little more tenacious.

"I hate having to do this…" he started.

"I know."

"What happened?" He sounded as if he couldn't work it out himself.

Tears started to run down Bella's face. She shook her head again.

"He looks as if he got attacked by something. But what? The house… I was there and I can't work out what happened or why there is a scorched area in the back yard. Did you burn something?"

No answer.

"He has nail marks and finger bruising around his throat. And a bite on his arm. He has lost a lot of blood but there was no blood at the scene."

Still no answer.

"And some large animal left fur on the screen door as it broke through it. We think it went out… but how did it get in? And what the Hell was it?"

Bella was panicking inside. She had no idea what to tell him. She couldn't even tell him that Alice and Brady were there; or explain why they had both run away. Or explain why the body of Charlie's attacker no longer existed. No CSI there.

Mark just stared at her. He sighed. 'Okay. We can talk later."

She resumed her earlier curled up position. She didn't know where the pack were or what they were doing or why Paul and Leah hadn't contacted her. She just prayed that they were all okay. Brady hadn't been able to tell them anything with Victoria there and prior to that he was in wolf form.

She wanted to laugh that their positions are reversed; for once, her father was in the ER. Now she knew how Charlie felt whenever she was in Emergency. Frustrated and helpless.

She wondered where Paul and Leah were.

The nurse came out. Bella looked up hopefully.

"He needs massive blood transfusions; he's lost a lot of blood. But we are getting it into him as fast as we can."

"Thanks," Bella mumbled.

The nurse frowned at her. "There's no one you can call?"

"No." She knew who Charlie might like to have at his bedside, though. "Do you have Sue Clearwater's phone number?"

"Yes. She's the nurse at La Push."

"She and Charlie are dating but I don't have her number."

"I'll get reception to call her."

"Thank you."

She had forgotten her own phone in all the panic. She pulled it out of her pocket and stared at it.

Suddenly, it rang in her hand. Caller ID said Embry.

"Embry? Hang on," she answered. She rushed around the corner into an empty corridor to take the call.

"Are you okay, Bella?"

"Yeah. What happened?"

"Everyone made it."

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Embry."

"A few minor injuries but Quil is the worst - just driving back to the rez now in the back of Paul's truck."

"Paul's truck? Is he driving? Where's Leah?"

"Ah - it's hard to explain."

"Just tell me, Em. You're worrying me."

"They kind of let loose their wolf sides."

"Huh?"

"Fucking, Bella. We think they are off in the forest fucking. They threw the whole pack human - even Sam. You should have seen his face."

"Oh." She paused. "I'm glad they are both okay. There's nothing they could do here." She sounded abandoned.

"Do you need someone with you? What's that, Jake? Hang on…" He clearly put his hand over the mouthpiece. "… okay, sorry about that."

"No, I'm okay." Her voice was tiny.

"Jasper said to tell you they will be at the Cullen place. Alice is a little freaked out."

"Poor thing. She saved him; at least he's not … you know… but I'll call her as soon as they know Charlie is going to pull through."

"Is it that bad?"

"He lost a lot of blood." She put her hand around the phone and whispered into it, "I have avoided answering the deputy's questions so far."

"Shit. What are you going to tell them?"

"I have no idea Em. I can't think."

"We got through it."

"I know. I feel like I just want to cry. From relief mostly, that it's all over."

"Hang in there, Bells," she heard Jake say.

"Jake's okay?"

"Broken arm. Already set and healing."

"Thanks, guys. You look after Quil."

"Nah. He'll be good and then he will tell you all about how awesome he was… repeatedly."

She gave a strained chuckle. "Probably show me his scars."

"Yeah… See ya."

"Thanks for calling, Em."

Ten minutes after she hung up the phone, the door of the ward banged open. Seth came bounding in, barefoot and only wearing athletic shorts.

Bella burst into tears when she saw him. He scooped her up and held her.

He pressed his face in against the side of hers and whispered in her ear, "Jake sent me. We couldn't tell them about Charlie. Once we told them you were okay, they were gone. And no one can phase in. They will kick themselves when they find out. Truth is, we are all a little more animal than human right now. It never even occurred to me to come here until Jake said it. He and Embry are better at being human, I think some of the pack are better at being wolves." It all poured out at usual Seth speed. It made her feel better just to hear it.

"And I fall in love with two of them."

"Yeah."

"They are going to feel so bad. They will owe me so many favors."

"Pfft… Leah already owes me three, and she's bad at paying up."

"I asked the hospital to call your mom."

"Good idea. Where's your phone? I'll call her, too and tell her the stuff they can't tell her."

She handed it to him.

She could only hear half of the conversation.

"Mom… no, I'm okay… I'm with Bella… yep, at Forks hospital… he got bitten by Victoria… Alice… drained him to save him…" He looked at Bella with a question on his face and she nodded.

Seth listened for a little while. "Mom… you chose the tribe before, over Leah… don't do it again…"

Bella blinked at Seth. Holy Crow. Seth had just told his mother off, in the nicest way possible.

"… We're in the waiting room… okay… bye." He handed her back her phone. "She'll be here as soon as she can."

"I'm not surprised."

"She's stitching up wolves. She really likes Charlie."

"She loves him," Bella corrected.

He hugged her and they sat in silence for a minute.

"Did you call your mom?" Seth asked.

"Shit! I'm not good at this emergency stuff, Seth."

"No. You're usually on the other end."

"See, that's exactly what I thought."

"Do it after you have the story sorted and he's okay; she'll just worry in Florida. Even if she jumped a plane right now, she'd never make it if…" he stopped.

She took a deep breath. "Yeah." She hugged Seth harder.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Can anyone overhear?"

He tilted his head, listening. "Nope."

"Charlie got called out for something; Alice told him we'd be fine. Victoria must have got him out the front when he came back. She had him by the throat. She called us into the house."

"And you went in to save him?"

"Yeah - we all did."

"She made Brady stay human. He broke her knee when she went to kick him. Alice attacked her and Charlie stuck his fingers in her eyes. Her teeth must have hit his arm. Or she bit him just to be a bitch."

"Wow! Bad ass. Did Brady phase?"

"Yes, he and Alice killed her."

Seth chuckled. "I will take that back about him and Collin being small. Imagine if Jake had done that?"

"Exactly. He would not have fitted." She paused. "Brady didn't come back, Seth. Is he okay?"

"He said he had to run because of the cops. He rang Embry when he got a chance."

"Oh, sure."

Silence.

"They'll come as soon as they know," Seth said.

Sue got there first. She ran at Seth and checked him all over for damage.

"I'm fine," he huffed at her.

Then she hugged Bella so hard it hurt. "Where is he?"

* * *

They moved him to a ward. Bella called Renee and filled her in. As Seth had said, there was nothing she could do, but she asked Bella to keep in contact. When nothing changed for a while, Bella fell asleep in the vinyl armchair, Seth stalked back and forth and Sue pulled up a chair next to the bedside and held Charlie's hand.

Seth's head lifted. "They're coming."

"Right," said Sue. She stood and actually rubbed her hands together.

When Paul and Leah came hurrying down the corridor. She was standing in front of the closed door with her hands on her hips. "Outside," she said.

"Mom," Leah wailed. "We need to see Bella."

"She's asleep. NOW!"

Paul baulked.

"Both of you."

He went, too. He looked at Sue warily, as if had now realized where Leah got her scary side from.

They went out a side entrance and stood under the eaves. Leah and Paul exchanged a glance.

"Where were you?" Sue asked.

"We …" Leah stopped. She didn't know how to tell her mother what they were doing. "You do not want to know."

Paul rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, nervously.

Sue looked at them and then she seemed to put it together. "Oh, my god. You were **_fucking_**?"

"Mom."

Sue reached over and smacked Leah up the back of the head. She eyed off Paul but he took a step backwards; out of range. She glared at him instead.

"Ouch, jeez mom."

"You left her. Her father nearly became a vampire and you ...left ...her."

"We know and we will spend the rest of our lives making it up to her," Paul said.

"Humph. You forgot who you were fighting _**for**_."

They both hung their heads.

"If I was her," Sue added, "I'm not sure I would ever forgive you."


	75. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Sue stomped off back inside the hospital and left them alone. Leah looked utterly panicked.

Paul hugged her. "Lucky for us, Bella is not like your mother."

"You think she'll forgive us?"

"I know she will." He kissed her gently. "Now come on, let's go and grovel just to make sure of it."

They entered the room silently. Seth raised an eyebrow. Sue wasn't there. Bella was still asleep in the chair. Leah crouched down next to it and brushed her hair very gently off her forehead. "Baby?"

Bella's eyes opened and she blinked and tried to focus. She looked at Leah as if she was a dream and then she threw her arms around her neck and buried her face into Leah's skin. Leah picked her up and sat back down in the chair with Bella on her lap.

Paul nodded at Seth. "What's the story with Charlie?"

"Mom's just checking with the other nurses. They said something about keeping an eye on him for organ damage." He waved at the bags hanging from metal trolleys.. "Fluids, antibiotics, blood and blood-builders, I think they called them."

"So he'll be in intensive care for a few days?"

"Yeah... probably." He pointed at Bella. "She hasn't had anything to eat or drink since she got here."

Paul ran his hand down her hair. "Let's find the cafe before it closes."

"Yeah," said Leah, "and before Mom comes back and hits me again."

"She hit you?" Seth chortled.

Leah glared at him.

"She's pretty stressed," Seth said, "She spent most of the day stressing about us being in the fight and then she was dealing with injuries and then-" He waved a hand at Charlie.

"True." Leah looked up at Paul. "Do you have any money?"

He shook his head.

They raided Sue's handbag. Leah passed Bella to Paul; it looked more natural for him to carry her and they set off to find food. "Munchkin?" he asked.

She shook her head and hung onto him tighter.

The cafeteria was just closing up so they got all the food left in the food warmer. They sat at a corner table as far away from the kitchen as they could get. The staff were washing up and putting things away; making enough noise to cover their conversation.

"Should we go outside?" Bella asked.

"Dark."

"Oh, it is, too."

Paul got some hot drinks and sat one in front of Bella along with a plate of food.

They ate. Nobody seemed to know where to start. Finally Paul said, "We're sorry. We totally lost it."

"Quil told us you were okay, and she was ashes and we..." Leah pushed the remains of her meal around her plate.

Paul added, "We were so glad you were okay."

"That you just forgot about me?" Bella asked.

They were both silent.

"Actually," said Bella, "_Everyone_ did; not just you. Brady had to run, Alice panicked and left... Embry called me and that was the first message I got from the pack that everyone was okay. I had my own phone but in all the stress, I just forgot about it. I suppose everyone else did, too." She looked at them both. "I get it... it was just instinct. Seth said everyone was less human; except Embry and Jake. He said he didn't even think of me until Jake told him to come to the hospital." She paused. "Alice!" She grabbed her phone from her pocket.

Paul and Leah exchanged a look. They _were_ in trouble.

"I'm just sending her a text to say that Charlie is in ICU," Bella explained.

They waited for her to finish.

"Nobody had phones except Embry and Brady," Paul said. "Banned from the battlefield."

"And Jasper," Leah added.

"He was too worried about Alice to call you. She rang and was freaking out. He had to go," Paul said.

"Poor thing. I don't think she has ever..." Bella looked around. "... tasted ... you know... before."

"But yeah... Embry and Jake were the best at being human," Paul commented. He frowned as if he was thinking about it.

"Jake phased in, shouted your name at us. Told us off for throwing everyone out," said Leah.

"Pointed out that if there had been a stray leech, or we had missed one in the battle, that no one could have phased to deal with it. That, we seriously fucked up," Paul said. "Brady was human and alone and someone had to drive out and pick him up."

"And he had been so brave and helped save you..."

"...and that was the thanks we gave him."

"We just weren't thinking," Leah said. "There was this incredible adrenaline rush. We had won and fought so hard. And the fight was over. But we put the whole pack into danger and we forgot about you."

"We didn't forget," Paul argued. "We knew you were okay... but... we just... kind of got distracted. We thought we'd have time for a quickie. It just took a bit longer than we expected." He gave Leah a glance. "So that's why we can never do it again. Wolf sex is off the agenda."

"Never again," said Leah.

Bella folded her arms and studied them. "Jake told you off?"

Leah nodded. "He was furious."

"He's the only one who could phase in; even Sam couldn't do it," Paul said. "As the alpha pair, we must have some extra wolf mojo that we haven't quite sorted out yet. We just wanted privacy; didn't even think about how it affected the rest of the pack."

"Except him... he is meant to be the alpha," Bella said.

"He said we were being spectacularly stupid and behaving like animals." Leah looked guilty.

Bella remembered what Jake had said the first time they talked about his new state. "He thinks the wolf makes him a monster. And he might have yelled at you, but he didn't phone me either."

"No, I suppose not," Leah said. She looked thoughtful.

"What does that mean? That you can affect the pack like that?" Bella asked.

"Not sure yet," Paul answered. "We need a meeting between us, Jake and Sam. But no one is up to it right now."

"What was everyone else doing right after the battle?" Bella asked.

"Not sure, but Jake was on his way to Lily's when he spoke to us," Leah said.

"So we can probably guess why he was going to her place."

"After a fight everyone feels the need to reconnect; we were just closer together," Paul said.

"Hmmm… I think what the pack needs is a better organized communication method," Bella said.

"It took us some time to get back to the rez and find some clothes and we drove here... just in case. That's why it took us so long," Paul explained.

"Didn't want to phase together again so soon after?" Bella asked.

"Yeah. Couldn't risk it." Leah pushed her plate away from her.

"And then when you got here, Sue hit you," Bella said.

Leah looked concerned. "She guessed what we were doing and she said if she was you, that she'd never forgive us."

"And you couldn't phone me?" Bella asked, "And tell me you were on your way?"

"We..." Paul sighed. "We wanted to talk face to face."

Bell understood that. She had wanted to tell Paul she loved him; but only to his face. And now he was here... and she didn't know what to say. "You'll have to phase together some time," she pointed out.

Paul nodded. "True, but I think we got it out of our system... if that makes sense."

"So, we should be okay again. Back to normal. We may never have another fight like that again." Leah paused. "At least, I hope so."

Bella sighed. "Maybe this is why the pack has imprints. Normal people would **not** put up with this shit."

"Baby-" Leah started.

"Shush." Bella took a sip of her drink. It was a strategy to compose herself and marshal her thoughts.

Paul's eyes sparkled. He waited; watching Bella intently.

"Your mother has no idea how the three of us work together. It's too far out of her experience. In a normal two person relationship, she'd be right. She doesn't understand that we can't start getting jealous about two of us being together and one missing out. We cannot always all have sex at the same time. Sometimes we want different things. Sometimes, one of us might just not be in the mood. At different times, each of us will need more support. Like Paul did when his mother died, or like Leah did when she denied her wolf. We can't keep score, and we shouldn't even try. We'd never make it otherwise.

"But the other problem is that there aren't three in this relationship; there are five. Two of whom I can never be with and never really understand. I can't even talk to them. You guys tell me that they like me and I have to believe that. They just killed vampires for me. And sometimes, they might want to be together, too. We have to make time for them as well, otherwise they miss out and that's not fair. And given those two are the least human here, we have to look after them, too. Look what Leah's wolf did to her, when her needs were not met.

"Am I upset that you left me alone? Yes. Do I understand why the wolves did it? Yes. Were you even thinking clearly when you did it? No. I suppose that everyone else rushed off to be with their nearest and dearest, too. It's just that in our relationship there are more options.

"Also, no one really understands just how much of the wolf is in all of you now. None of you are human - not even Jake for all his protests. Quil threw himself in front of a speeding car for a lark. I swear he did it, because he could.

"And I can only assume that the longer you are like this, the more pronounced it will get. There are no tribal stories or songs or guidebooks for dealing with this, and especially not, as Leah is the first female they have ever had. No one has a clue how that changes things, but clearly it does. Look at you two as an alpha pair." She pointed at Leah. "You growled at a girl and would have torn her apart in the middle of the store because she touched Paul." Bella held her hands up. "Does anyone think that is normal?"

They didn't answer her, she didn't seem to expect an answer.

"If I brought a guy home for a cup of coffee. What would you do? Be honest."

Silence.

"Come on... what is the first thing you would do?"

Paul made eye contact. "I'd scent him to see how close he got to you."

"Right. Or if we'd had sex or something. Not because human you doesn't trust me, but because it matters to wolf you, if he touched me."

"You're ours. The same way that we mark our territory in the wild," Paul said, "and check it frequently."

Leah spoke, "When you're at work, we can tell which people came in to Newtons and whether they touched you, too."

"I can tell now, that Deputy Mark sat near you, but that he didn't touch you," Paul added.

"No. He wanted to; he stopped himself. See! That's my point. I live with you and I get some of this and so does Emily. Sam goes nuts if people that he doesn't know get too close to Nathan." She took a breath. "But Sue doesn't understand how the pack behaves... None of you behave normally anymore, so it is impossible to apply normal behavioural standards. The same way that Alice didn't-" She stopped suddenly.

Paul's eyes narrowed. "Alice didn't what?" he asked in a low voice.

"Oh, don't you give me that... I was alone," Bella hissed at him. "I did the best I could have under the circumstances. I talked Alice into draining out the venom... but then she wouldn't stop."

"What... did... you... do?" Paul glared at her.

"I hit her with a chair. I hit her over and over until she stopped."

Leah made a startled squeak noise. "You hit a feeding vampire?" she asked incredulously.

"It was Charlie! I had to stop her."

"Oh, Jesus," said Leah. She put both her hands over her face.

"I thought you might be coming to help me," Bella accused.

"Be glad we didn't," Paul said. "We would have just killed Alice."

Bella blinked. "There... see! There it is again. So matter of fact." She stood suddenly. "I need to go to the bathroom. Do not follow me in."

* * *

Bella used the toilet and then stood and stared at herself. Again.

Paul had said 'you're ours' and she didn't even know if he meant he and the wolf or him and Leah. That was how weird her life was.

She had never thought about if they had arrived at the house and seen Alice feeding on Charlie. They would have killed her. Then Charlie would probably be dead, if Alice hadn't finished the job, he'd be a vampire. None of the options were good. As it was, the wolves getting distracted by a quickie that took longer than anyone expected might have been a good thing.

She dialled a number on her phone.

She had accused people of forgetting about her and she had forgotten about her friend, too.

"Hey darlin'," Jasper answered.

"Jasper. Is Alice okay? I'm sorry I didn't call earlier."

"That's all right, honey. You've got a lot on your mind. How's Charlie?"

"In ICU, but still here. Alice saved him. Tell her that?"

"She was so worried that you'd hate her."

"I told her I wouldn't. Does she hate me for hitting her with a chair?"

"Do you hate me for attacking you over a paper cut?"

"No. It was your nature."

"There you go. How are your wolves?"

"Guilty and sorry."

"Bless them, that was so funny. A field full of suddenly naked men."

"They got distracted."

"Maybe that's their nature?" Jasper suggested.

"Yes. And as they just pointed out, if they had arrived at the house when Alice was... you know-"

"Lord, they would have killed her and we'd all be at war."

And there was no way Jasper would have let them live if they had touched Alice; treaty or no treaty. "Of course. I didn't think about the treaty." Maybe things happened for a reason. "Can I ask if you noticed any other odd behaviour from the pack?"

"How do you mean?"

"No one phoned me to see if I was okay. I mean, Brady told them I was safe."

"Actually, Embry asked if you were hurt, and Brady said no. So they knew you were uninjured and safe, and he said Victoria was dead; he and Alice had killed her and he burnt her."

Bella blessed vampire perfect memories. "So there was no danger to me."

"Indeed. And it was after they all turned human that Brady said Charlie had been bitten, that Alice had sucked all the venom out, but that Charlie was not good. Embry asked him if the ambulance was there."

"So they knew everything was being done for Charlie that could be?"

"Yes. Brady was upset that he had left you alone, and then Alice rang me and confirmed all of that. Now on the weird side, I mean I have only really got close to the pack in the last couple of days, but Embry and Sam both mentioned Sue Clearwater and talked to her without telling her that Charlie had been bitten. That did seem out of character."

"That's exactly the kind of stuff I meant."

"But in one way, I understand that," Jasper added, "The pack needed Sue more than Charlie did at that exact point."

"She's the tribal nurse."

"And she seemed to be their liaison."

"She's on the council with Billy and Old Quil."

"From what Sam said, she was in charge of arranging transportation and they needed it quickly because nobody could turn wolf."

"Okay, that makes sense."

"You okay, Bella?"

"It just seemed odd to me that the whole pack forgot me until Embry called. Even Seth said he didn't think about it."

"And Seth loves you. Could be the venom. They were taking more than a few bites out of vampires. Does it make them sick? They aren't exactly human."

"The wolves? Oh yes, a bite will kill them. I don't know about swallowing any of it, but they might have."

"We exude venom, too to attract prey. They would have been breathing it in for days from me, with an intense dose from the seven in the field. Plus the other guy they held for a while. Fred?"

"Paul and Seth had tortured him all night. They must have been really exposed. Paul said Seth went kind of weird, that night, too."

"That might do it."

"Alice told me about the attraction. She said it was another weapon in your arsenal, that you were like a carnivorous flower. That you were physically attractive to your prey."

Jasper laughed. "That sounds like my Alice."

"Tell her she's still my best friend. Along with Jake."

"Of course."

"Thanks, Jasper."

"You look after yourself, you hear?"

Bella opened the bathroom door and Leah and Paul were leaning against the wall opposite the door trying not to look like they had been listening.

"I said not to follow me," Bella said.

"In. You said do not follow you in," Leah said.

Bella rolled her eyes.

Paul looked at her. "Can I just say how unbelievably smart you are."

Leah elbowed him.

"And that I love you," he added.


	76. Chapter 76

**Chapter 76**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Bella pointed at Paul. "You are still in trouble," she argued.

Paul stepped towards her carefully. "Can I have a hug?"

She frowned at him and folded her arms across her body.

"Please?"

"Not yet. Did you tell Leah that, too?"

"What?"

"Do you love Leah, too?"

He didn't look at Leah. "Yes. I wanted to tell you both at the same time, but Leah got a little panicked before the battle."

"I freaked out and started imagining horrible things," Leah said. "I broadcast it to everyone."

"But you are okay now?" Bella looked concerned.

"Yeah. Paul got naked and stood in front of me and distracted me."

Bella snorted. "Well, that would work."

"At least until I realized the redhead wasn't there and then I just lost it, again."

"Oh, Leah." Bella sounded as if she could cry.

Leah blinked quickly. "I was just screaming inside. _She's not here._"

Bella hugged her.

"I'm so sorry, beautiful. We should have been here for you." Leah folded herself down and rested her face on Bella's shoulder. Bella kept one arm around her.

"I do understand why you weren't and I am so glad you guys are both all right and that no one had to die and … and that the enemies are all gone."

"She nearly ran from the field," Paul said. "Ask Jasper, he must have felt the emotions."

Bella still looked worried. "She only got herself together days ago. It must have been really hard for her."

"See, that's what I told her," Paul said.

"You got her under control again?"

"Yes, but she ignored Sam's alpha order."

"Hey, standing right here." Leah sniffed.

"You really need that meeting soon," Bella said.

"Yeah, Jake has been putting stuff off." Paul ran his hand through his hair.

"You said I was your human anchor," Bella said.

"We went adrift for a little while," Paul said. He sidled closer to her. "We had no idea of the time; we got so caught up in it. It was kind of scary. That's another reason why we said 'no more'." He reached out and brushed the back of her hand with one finger.

Bella inhaled.

"If that's how we can go… without you… then we really, really, really need you." He bent down and kissed her ear. "I'm sorry, we weren't here for you and I am so glad you got through it all okay, too. I cannot believe what you did to save Charlie. I just can't."

She leaned against him. She needed them, they needed her. She loved them, they both loved her. They had saved her in more ways than one.

"I love you both but you owe me big time favors. You're still not entirely forgiven," she muttered into Paul's chest. "I don't care if you were on vampire rohypnol or whatever you want to call it."

"Jeez woman, you are formidable," Paul told Bella. "To put all that together." Paul kissed Bella's forehead.

"There had to be a reason why everyone abandoned me. And Seth doesn't torture people."

"Sure," Paul said. "Don't hit me with a chair."

"Not funny, Paul," Leah said.

"Holy Crow! We need a story for the deputy."

Paul shook his head. "I've got nothing."

Bella touched his face. "Talking to Jasper, I thought that if you had arrived and killed Alice… your biggest problem would be him."

"Fuck!" said Paul. "Christ, I saw him fight. You were right about the paper cut. If he had really wanted to take you out, he would have killed every Cullen to do it."

"I told you," she chided. "He likes me."

"Thank fuck for that."

"Can we go see Charlie, now?"

"Sure."

"Yeah. We need to move away from the women's toilet." Paul made a face.

Bella's phone rang.

It was Alice. "I had a vision. It's the best plan we've got to convince the police. You have to tell Charlie so that he confirms it. And I need a wolf. Brady?"

"Paul's here and he's gray, too Like Brady, or Leah is gray, as well."

"Paul, then. Tell him to meet me at the back of the hospital now."

She looked at Paul. He nodded. Kissed her quickly and walked off down the corridor.

"What's the plan?" Bella asked. Alice told her.

"Okay, I'll tell Charlie when he wakes up. He will wake up?"

"Yes, he will. He must be wolf free now."

Seth must have gone home.

"Thank you, Alice."

"We'll see you before we leave. I have to go now."

* * *

Bella and Leah walked back to Charlie's room arm in arm. Leah kept touching her and leaning towards her.

They stopped just outside Charlie's room. Bella put her arms around Leah's waist and pushed her gently up against the wall. She leaned on her.

Leah put her arms around her shoulders and hugged her, resting her cheek on the top of Bella's head.

"I'm so tired, Leah. I just want to go home. Our home, not Charlie's place. I don't think I can go back there for a while."

"I know, baby. I understand that, but we still haven't cleaned up our place, yet."

"Ugh. Kirrin stink. I remember."

"Tomorrow. We'll do it tomorrow."

"Can we go home, now?"

"Sure, but to Paul's place?"

"That's fine. I like his bed, too."

"Yeah, me too. That's where we all got back together."

"That was two whole days ago."

"No… really?"

"Yes it was. Fred arrived that evening. Then Jaz and Alice showed up and you guys trained all day and then I slept in my old room. And then today was the battle."

"Shit! It feels like a year."

They stood there silently, hanging on to each other.

Bella whispered. "You did so well."

"Thanks. You, too."

Silence.

"Charlie is waking up."

"Good."

They pushed open the door to the room.

"Kiddo," Charlie croaked. And then it was clear that he just didn't know what to say.

Bella hugged him hard. "Wow, Dad," she said. "You're not a vampire."

"I like my sleep. Told Alice that." He spoke with more than a few pauses and his voice was husky and weak.

"Nurse," warned Leah.

She entered the room and checked all his vitals; chatted to Sue about antibiotic doses and left again.

Bella was still holding his hand. "We'll have matching scars."

"Alice?"

"She's a little shook up but she has come up with some plan for Deputy Mark. Paul is off helping her with that." She filled him in on what the story would be just in case Mark showed up.

"Okay, I think I've got it." Charlie eyed her off. "You go home and get some sleep."

"We'll go back to the rez. I'll come in tomorrow."

"Rest up, kiddo. Sue will stay with me."

"Sure, thanks Sue."

Sue looked at Leah. "So she forgave you? Just like that?"

Bella was tired. "No offense Sue, but you need to butt out."

She bristled. "Pardon?"

Charlie looked between them as if he didn't know what was going on.

"It's okay," Leah said.

"No. It isn't," said Bella. She turned on Sue. "Do **not **tell me what I should think or do. These two fought vampires for me. And they risked their lives for everyone and did you thank them? Your own daughter went through a horrific experience two days ago and you didn't even tell her you were proud of her. Or thanked her for saving everyones' lives. Or gave her a hug. You smacked her in the head because she had sex with her lover. That was not your job. And given Seth had to remind you to come here and hold Charlie's hand, I think you live in a very large glass house.

"I fought for these two and I love them. I know they love me. And for the first time in _**years**_, I can sleep without having nightmares and waking up screaming that vampires are hunting me. Maybe their timing was bad and maybe they acted a little impetuously, but as far as they knew, I was safe and unhurt. And they came as soon as they knew I needed them.

"I would never presume to tell you and Charlie how to run your love life and just because you are Leah's mother, it does not give you the right to say anything, either." She took a breath. "And we've worked out that the whole pack was high on an overdose of vampire venom."

"Take me home, please, Leah."

She stormed out of the room.

* * *

Leah was silent in the truck. Paul wasn't back yet, but Leah had just started driving.

She stopped just before the river and whistled out the window. Paul jogged over and opened the passenger door.

Bella held her arms out to him. He scooped her up and held her. He glanced at Leah. "What's happened?"

"She told Mom off."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. She started with 'no offense'," Leah added.

"Oooh... people never mean that." Paul chuckled.

"I feel terrible," muttered Bella. "I should apologize."

"Were you right?"

"I think so. She was mean to my Leah."

Leah grinned.

Paul shrugged. "So why are you apologizing?"

"I've upset my mother in law."

"Sleep on it," Paul suggested.

"Good idea. How did you go?"

"Well, the job is done. I just went back to the Cullen place to do it. Alice can tell this thing will work?"

"I think it is the best idea we've got."

Paul snorted. "It's the only idea we've got."

"That too."

"We're heading back to your place," Leah said.

"Fine. Bella's in the middle."

"Fine."

He kissed her hair. "Formidable. See… told you."


	77. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

[AN: I can't remember if Bella knew the Cullen family history at the stage Ed left in NM. She knew Ed's and Carlisle's, so let's pretend that she knows them all.]

Bella's eyes opened sometime during the night. The last she remembered they had been in the truck on the way home. She was naked and sandwiched between her wolves. Both were sound asleep. They must be utterly exhausted to not notice that she had woken. She was incredibly warm; just the way she liked it these days.

What she had said to Sue echoed in her mind. _…for the first time in years, I can sleep without having nightmares…_

The constant thought that Victoria was still out there and still angry with her, had haunted her for years at a level she hadn't actually processed. Once the Cullens had left her unprotected, every single time she heard a twig scratch on a window, every slamming door, every odd noise in the dark, she imagined was a flame haired vampire coming to take her away. And given she lived in an old wooden house on the rez there were plenty of noises during the night. Every time she had to walk to her truck in the Newton's parking lot after she had locked up the shop… she made that walk in fear that she could be grabbed at any moment by something that moved too fast for her to see. She had amassed a number of checking behaviors; always checking the door was locked more than once. Looking behind her all the time.

And now?

Victoria was gone. And none of the vampires in her coven would have mates. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been with her in the first place.

No more looking behind her for Bella Swan, now she was only looking forwards.

She was free. And she was safe.

And she was alive. And not un-dead. Seeing Alice and Jasper after a break, made her realize something else. They hadn't changed at all. What on earth had she been thinking, to want to be like them? Charlie joked about loving his sleep, but there were so many negatives to being an eternal teenager. When she had lain in a bed with Edward, she had needed a quilt to stop her shivering. His cold, marble body would not have warmed her the way these two did.

Two.

She inhaled; breathing them in.

If she had stayed with the Cullens and become a vampire like them, her future would have been an endless stream of new high schools. Moving from town to town, provided that they had appalling weather to hide their sparkling skin from the sunlight. No trips to the beach or Florida. Her colored graduation caps would have been added to their collection, framed and hung in the hallway of their home. A record of endless high school torture. She had been bored repeating the same biology classes from Arizona to Washington. Imagine if she had done it as many times as Edward had?

If Rosalie hadn't been able to talk the Cullens out of repeating school, then she would have had no chance. Not the way she had been then; she did everything Edward asked her to. The only time she had been disobedient was after he had left. She had broken her promise to Edward to not to do anything stupid.

Although really, hanging around with young werewolves had been anything but stupid. They had protected her, fought for her and saved her. They loved her.

And today they would go and clean out their home and move in together; all three of them. She wondered idly how the people of La Push would take that news. She thought the three of them could deal with gossip and mean talk the same way that she and Leah had dealt with it before. Just ignored it.

She had never thought before about having children. She hadn't dated anyone before Edward. She was young and she had not had much to do with babies before. She hadn't had a babysitting job or little siblings to look after or cousins to play with. Her family was Renee, Charlie and her grandmother who had died recently. Phil was a late addition and he was Renee's husband; not her father. She had moved to Forks with Charlie, to give them space together.

But a lot had changed in the last year. Since Emily had Nathan, and she had held him and played with him and seen what joy that little man brought to his parents. The look on Sam's face when he told them all at the party in their yard that it was a boy. The thought had occurred to her that one day she might like to have children of her own. She and Paul had even talked about it. That was a decision that she could **never** have made with the Cullens. Carlisle had turned Edward because his mother had begged him to save her son. She seemed to know what he was. Their manufactured family was expanded to bring children to Esme who had lost her own in such tragic circumstances. They never changed; they weren't human. They couldn't have children. They 'adopted' because they couldn't have their own. The teen-aged vampires were as close to children as Esme could get.

She wondered what happened to vampire babies if anyone ever made any. They couldn't. To resign a baby to such an unchanging existence would be Hell. She supposed that would be against the Volturi rules, too.

So why had she thought being like the Cullens was what she wanted?

The thought of being like him was horrific to her, now.

It was kind of sad and tragic that Carlisle's love for Esme had doomed those teens to an eternal life. Jasper and Alice had been made by other vampires, but Carlisle had made all the others. An unchanging marble family, that never grew up.

When he was stitching her arm up after the paper-cut incident, he had talked about souls and how worried he was for their souls. He told her that Edward thought his soul was lost; that he was doomed in the afterlife. Carlisle disagreed; he thought Edward's goodness shone out of him. 'How could there not be more for one such as Edward?' he had asked her. Bella wasn't sure what she thought about Edward now. He had controlled her more than she realized, dumped her in the forest and left town to never contact her again. She had treated her father very badly when Edward was around. Nearly losing Charlie had made her see that clearly. She knew Alice would tell her brother everything that had happened recently. If she could forgive her wolves, could she forgive Edward too? Or thank him, for leaving her to live.

In a funny way, she had a new family; a furry one instead.

All the pack were closer than family. They all knew each other's secrets. They stood together in battles. They socialized together. And they had adopted her.

**She had a family.**

She had Seth, and Embry and Quil and Sam and Jake and Brady and Collin. Even Jared and Kim had a place in her world. It was chaotic and loud and too in your face sometimes. There was no privacy. They joked and laughed and teased each other. They brawled. They made mistakes. They forgot things. They grew. They changed. They had children of their own.

And her furry family had adopted Charlie, too.

She wanted to see what baby Nathan looked like when he walked and talked whole sentences. She wanted to know if Kim and Jared's babies would have her hair or his eyes. She was utterly certain that they would have babies; it was just a matter of time.

Time.

Time that she spent now. It wasn't an eternal and immortal life. No flat-line into the future. But she was glad. Sure, the sand in her hourglass ran now, but that was the point. Change brought new experiences. New feelings. New love.

Deep in her four months of mourning for Edward, she had thought that she could never love again. That her heart only had room for him. She had felt actual pain from the giant sized hole in her chest where he had torn her heart out.

Then Leah had come along and Bella loved her with her whole heart. A new, healed, beating heart that no longer hurt. Time had healed it. And then Paul had muscled his way in. How amazing was it that she loved Paul as well, with her whole heart? As if it had doubled in size to fit them both in.

And it would double again, to fit their child.

She wanted to know what her babies would look like, and Leah's. She had joked that they would be big; but she could see them, as tall as their father and just as handsome.

She bled. She grew. She changed. She might even get wrinkles and gray hairs. She rolled her eyes at the thought that her wolf partners might not age as fast as she did. Typical. She remembered Charlie teasing her about seeing a gray hair on the morning of her eighteenth birthday. She had panicked about it. How young and silly that girl seemed to her, now. Terrified of aging.

So you spent your time. That was the point of living. Hopefully you spent it well.

She had also changed in other ways. She could never have spoken up for herself the way she did to Sue. The way she had argued with Paul and Leah in the cafe. She was stronger for what had happened to her. She had changed, in that short time period. She was glad that she wasn't an eternal version of the girl she had been when she was dating Edward. Just the thought made her screw up her face. Ewww.

She took a deep breath and felt their bodies pressed against her and she thought of how much pleasure those bodies had brought her.

Sex. Wow.

She used to pass out kissing Edward. Goodness, he had nothing on Paul and Leah. Huh. Now that was odd. Maybe that was a side effect of the venom he exuded too?

She looked at Paul's chest. It was all she could see of him without shifting her head back and disturbing Leah who had her face buried in Bella's hair. He was the first man she had sex with; and hopefully the last. She couldn't imagine how sex with cold Edward would have worked. It made her shiver, and not in a good way.

"Stop thinking so loudly," Paul whispered.

She smiled and kissed his chest.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Life. Growing old."

"'Coz you're alive."

"We all are, yes."

"And not a vampire."

Edward couldn't read her mind, but Paul didn't even need to see her face to know what she was thinking. "I'm thinking about our future."

"Yeah?"

"We need to make some additions to the house."

"Why?"

"I think we need a space; a spare room."

"For guests?"

"I suppose… and for us. Just sometimes… one of us might want to bail out of bed or get some solitude."

"I was actually thinking about that. I've lived effectively on my own, for so long. Niki is away a lot of the time and I've got used to it."

Bella stroked his chest. "It will be hard for you to move into the house that Leah and I see as ours. It isn't… we want you there. The ours includes you, too."

"I know."

Silence.

"It's a good idea," Paul said. "I think we might all use that spare room."

"That was the idea. We can set it up like a study with a daybed-"

"Or a library."

"Ooh… I'd love a library." She chuckled. "It seems pretty extravagant to have a library in a one bedroom house."

"Not if it's what you want. You'd fill it."

"My beast gives me a library." She chuckled.

"Watch it."

Silence.

"I worry sometimes," Paul said. "I've not ever been in a real relationship. I don't want to fuck this up. You two matter too much to me."

"You rescued me. You came and scooped me up and took me away with you."

"You were a mess."

"Was it hard to do that?"

He was honest. "Yep. I stood in the doorway and I had a moment of panic… as if I knew you would be in my life if I went through that door, and then I thought that was stupid, because I had already come all the way back to the house to get you. That last step into the room was the smallest thing to do."

"But it was the last part of the journey.

"The journey… yeah."

"That's what I was thinking, that life is a journey and the Cullens are just… paused." Bella sighed. "You came for me and then together, we rescued Leah."

"Sleeping here," Leah mumbled, as if mentioning her name had got through to her. She rolled away from Bella onto her back. Paul and Bella both shuffled around.

"So the last step of our journey is moving in together?" Bella asked.

"Yeah." She could hear Paul's smile. "But then we have some other journeys to make."

"Sappy shit, again," mumbled Leah.


	78. Chapter 78

**Chapter 78**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

The smell woke her up. Breakfast. She was alone in the bed. She stretched, rolled over and saw the sunlight streaming in the window. She rolled out of bed, found a t-shirt of Paul's on the floor and some panties. After a trip to the bathroom she wandered out to the kitchen. Paul was cooking.

She hugged him and kissed his back. "Morning. Where's Leah?"

"Gone to get some boxes."

"Moving day."

"Right."

The toast popped and she started buttering it.

"Did the hospital call?" Paul asked.

"I should check my messages."

"We can go in as soon as you want."

"Sue will be there."

"Probably."

Bella sighed.

"I thought you were going to sleep on it?"

"I seemed to think on everything else."

"Give her one of those apologies that isn't one."

"How do you mean?"

"Say I'm sorry you got upset."

Bella looked at him. "Oh, you sneaky thing. I bet you've used that one before."

"Yep, people hear an apology, but you aren't taking anything back."

The truck pulled up outside the house. Leah bounced inside, kissed Bella then Paul and then peered hopefully into the frying pan.

"One minute," Paul assured her.

"Hey, I've been thinking," Leah said. "We should bring your bed."

"It does seem to be bigger," said Bella.

"I like it," said Paul. "Your house, my bed." He grinned at them and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, we can argue about which is the heart of the house later, your bed or my kitchen," Bella said as she got out the plates.

"My kitchen?" he checked. "I cook, too."

"Oh, but I've never let anyone into my kitchen before."

"Other than me," he pointed out, "And I've never had any girl in that bed other than Leah and you."

"Really?" said Bella.

"I knew that," said Leah.

Paul gave her a look. "I never told you that."

She touched her nose.

"Of course."

"So that means we were special," Bella said, "Right from the start. If we were allowed in your space."

"Uh, huh," said Paul, as he served their breakfast.

"Wow." Bella kissed him.

"Are we going back to bed?" Leah asked.

"New house?" Paul suggested.

"Okay. Great idea," said Leah.

Bella was checking her phone. "Charlie is much better. Can we go in after breakfast?"

"Sure."

"Did you want us to come?"

"Yes, please."

When they were all showered and dressed, they piled into Paul's truck and headed for Forks. Paul started sorting things while he was waiting for the girls.

In the hospital parking lot, Paul jogged over and picked a flower out of the garden. He came back and put it in Leah's hand. She looked at it quizzically and then her face cleared. "Gifts every day?" she said. During the intervention he had promised to bring her gifts. She glanced at Bella.

"I didn't promise her," he said. "But she'll get her gifts, too. They'll just be more spontaneous."

Leah stood close to him. "I don't mind if mine are spontaneous as well."

He looked doubtful. "Are you sure?"

"We get you, Paul. We don't need gifts."

Paul kissed her. "Who's being sappy now?"

Bella smiled at them both. "He promised me a library."

"Cool. Let's go see Charlie," said Leah.

Bella stopped outside his door. Then she took a breath and opened it. Sue was there. Leah and Paul made their greetings too.

"Hey, kiddo," said Charlie.

"Dad, you look so much better."

She bent over to kiss him and he gave an obvious eye flick towards Sue. Bella nodded to tell him that she understood. There was no point putting it off. She turned towards her father's girlfriend.

Bella reached out and held Sue's hand and she looked earnestly into her face. "Oh, Sue. I have to apologize for yesterday. I am so sorry you got upset." She prayed that Paul's knowledge of people was better than hers.

Sue made a kind of humph noise. "I understand," she said. "It was an awful day for us all."

"Yes," Bella agreed diplomatically.

Paul winked at her, and she had to bite her lip to stop a smile.

She was saved by a knock at the door.

Deputy Mark stuck his head into the room. "Good morning, Chief."

"Mark. Come in."

He made some small talk and then asked, "Chief, can we take that statement, now?"

"Sure," Charlie said. He sat up a little higher in the hospital bed; trying to look more business-like.

Bella perched on the edge of her father's bed, letting Sue have the other side.

Deputy Mark stood there in his uniform, looking nervous. "Alice Cullen came in to the station to make a statement early this morning. She was very distressed. Said she had to put down a pet recently." The Deputy paused as if waiting for Charlie to fill in the gap.

"She put it down?" Charlie asked. Everyone else was trying to look calm and just vaguely interested.

Mark nodded.

"Good. Dangerous thing," Charlie said.

"What was?" Sue dutifully asked.

"Alice had some pet dog. She got it from some kid on the rez… had it for a while, but the damn thing turned out be more wolf than dog. Hard to train." Charlie's eye glinted. He was enjoying himself immensely. "Said she got it spayed to calm it down but it didn't work and it was still kind of mean."

Paul jerked.

"That's why she never took it off the leash," Charlie added.

"She brought it to the house to show me," Bella said.

"And then it went for me when I came in. Got the leash tangled around my throat and it bit me on the arm."

"Then when you were choking, I tried to pull the leash away and I must have scratched your neck."

"And I was screaming," Charlie added.

"We all were," Bella said. "Which just made the poor animal more excited."

"Then Bella tried hitting it with a chair."

"But that crappy, cheap thing just smashed apart. Like kindling," she said.

"By the time the police arrived, they had all the sirens going…"

"Alice said it was scared of sirens. It was pretty obvious that it was, because it went nuts."

"So it smashed through the back door and ran off into the forest."

"And Alice ran after it, so she wasn't there when you guys came."

Everyone waited to see the Deputy's reaction. "That's what she said," he confirmed. "Her brother, Jasper Hale, said he had it put down. He thought that it was a good idea after it had got a taste for blood. She was still crying. Dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief and clutching a photo of her and the …dog together." He got an odd look on his face. "She still had the collar in her handbag. We matched the fur from it to the fur from the door. It looked about the same color." He looked at Charlie. "She begged you not to press charges and said that she would pay for all the damage. In fact, I think she has already arranged for the local handyman to repair the door, as a sign of good faith."

"Well now, isn't that nice of her?" Charlie said.

"Oh, yes," Bella agreed. "I'm so sorry she had to put it down; she loved that crazy mutt."

Paul's eyes narrowed.

Mark looked at them all. He cleared his throat. "So that's the story we are going with?"

They all looked dutifully blank.

"Pardon?" Charlie eventually said.

"That's the story we'll go with," Deputy Mark said. It was more of a statement now. "I'll file all the paperwork." He shook Charlie's hand and started for the door.

"Oh," he added," Can you ask all the rez people to stop confessing. They are making me crazy and the next one who shows up, I will charge with public mischief. I just don't have time for it, given you are here in the hospital 'n all."

"Rez people?" Charlie asked.

"First it was Billy Black. He said he ran over you when his wheelchair went out of control. Then it was Old Quil who said he had cast a spell on you using a doll of your body, some of your hair and some sort of voodoo or magic spell. Then it was…" He waved his hand dismissively. "Well, you get the picture. It's like that story where all the people did the murder."

"Murder on the Orient express?" Bella suggested.

"That's the one," said Mark. "Except these people are all confessing to something they didn't do." He looked quite serious. "Make it stop," he said to Sue.

She nodded mutely.

"Oh," Mark paused again, "How do we explain the limited amount of blood at the scene?"

Everyone noticed the 'we'.

"The dog licked it up?" Charlie said, although it sounded more like a question.

"Okay… that'll have to do. The fire in the yard?"

"Oh, that's right… that was me," said Bella. "I burnt some photos and things that had belonged to an old boyfriend of mine. I did it earlier in the day."

"Right."

"I forgot to mention it in all the fuss."

"Sure, that would be understandable."

"Thanks, Mark," said Charlie.

"No problem, Chief. Glad you made it through the 'dog attack'." They could almost hear the quotation marks around the word. He handed something to Leah who was closest to the door. "You might want this. I made a copy for you. But we do have one on the file."

Leah snorted with laughter as soon as Mark had shut the door. Paul tried to grab the photo out of her hand, but she darted across the room and hid behind Bella and showed her the shot as well.

"Oh, you're so cute," Bella crowed. "Look at you. You're so tiny. She must have photo-shopped you down. And you're wearing the collar and Alice is holding the leash. Look at you sitting there like a good boy, with your big tongue lolling out the side of your mouth."

"Give," said Charlie. He looked at it and then he started to laugh. He laughed until he hurt his throat.

"That's my favor done," said Paul to Bella.

"True." She held her face out and he kissed her. "Good boy," she said, as if she was talking to a puppy.

"Watch it, woman."

"So I assume he knows about the pack?" Leah asked Charlie.

Charlie glanced at Sue. "We have known since the attacks on the hikers, that there was something …" he searched for a word, "… different out there. Believe me we had one or two conversations over coffee about what the heck it could be. We weren't sure what it was or how to explain it. But, don't forget, Bella told me she saw the giant wolves."

"Oh, yes, I did too."

"And the hikers died of blood loss and yet there was no blood at the scenes. They had been drained dry, but they didn't have bite marks from giant wolves feeding on them. It didn't matter what explanation the medical investigators came up with, we knew it was something weird. Something we didn't have an explanation for. I kind of put it together and then Sue confirmed it. I asked Paul about it, too when he came to get Bella. And as I told Paul, then, I never believed that Emily was attacked by a bear. They just don't attack that way."

"You said Bella broke the rules when she wanted to," Paul pointed out. "Looks like you guys can, too."

"It's a small town and no one takes much notice of us. Luckily for you."

"When can you leave the hospital?" Bella asked.

"They want to keep me under observation, because of the wolf bite. Not that it really looks like a wolf bite, but everyone will stick to the story."

"Okay. We will be busy today moving Paul into the house."

"Everyone is happy?" he asked.

Bella reached for Leah's hand. "Yes, we are united."

Charlie looked at Paul with a calculating gaze. "Good. I'm sure it will all work out."

After a lot of kisses goodbye, they finally got back into the truck and headed back to La Push to move house.


	79. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

[AN: this chapter is for whackedB who has been saying for a long time that Paul should just pack up his truck and move in.]

* * *

Bella and Leah held hands and studied the tiny house. The sea murmured quietly in the background. Paul was dismantling his bed back at his place.

"I remember you got paint in your hair, when you painted the bathroom," Leah said.

"And you scraped it out for me."

Leah leaned her head down to rest against Bella's. "Funny, I wouldn't have let him sleep here, even if he wanted to."

Bella knew she meant Kirrin. "You hung onto your space."

Leah snorted. "My space… yeah. Didn't Paul call it our nest?"

"That, too."

Leah took a deep breath.

Bella asked, "Can you do this?"

"I think it is important that I do… if that makes sense."

"I understand that."

Leah turned and looked at Bella's face. "Can I go in by myself? Just to start…"

"Sure. I'll wait here for you or I might walk down to the sea. I don't mind being alone now; I'm safe."

Leah frowned a little. "You worried about that?"

"Used to."

Leah nodded. "I won't be long."

"Take as long as you need." Bella left her with a kiss and wandered down to the water. Bella wasn't worried, but she knew Leah was. She understood. Leah had broken the imprint, but she was still not sure of herself. Her first reaction to Kirrin's scent would be telling. Whatever it was, be it a tinge of regret or a tear for the destruction of a tribal honor, or a rail against the gods for making her imprint, she needed to do it alone just to prove to herself that she could.

Bella busied herself stacking pebbles on top of each other. She looked up when she heard Leah call her name. She could tell from the look on Leah's face that whatever she was worried about, she had beaten it. Bella ran to her. Leah swung her off her feet in a massive hug.

"I did it," she said.

"I knew you could."

"I love _you_." All the emphasis was on the you.

"Never stopped," Bella pointed out. "It did get a little squished and trod on… but it was still there."

"I was so angry, when he touched you. If Paul hadn't been there… I might have killed him." She whispered the last part.

"But he was." Bella didn't want to imagine what a wreck Leah would have been if she had actually killed her imprint. Or what that might have done to her. Bella understood they were linked somehow; imprints and wolves. "And I was there, too and we didn't want you to hurt anyone… not even yourself."

She hugged her and held her as tight as she could. She felt Leah take a big breath and then let it out.

"Let's go home," Bella said.

"I opened all the windows to let it air."

They wandered back, hand in hand, chatting about the changes they would have to make to the tiny house.

"Maybe we can finally have an internal laundry?" Bella asked.

"We can build the house out to meet it."

"And around and past it," Bella laughed.

Leah laughed, too. "We need to move the old bed out."

"We can leave it on the porch and make room for Paul's bed."

"Our bed," Leah corrected.

Bella smiled. "Yeah."

They were still holding hands when they walked through the door. Bella stopped and looked around. Her bookcase, her pot rack, her favorite chair; even her cake mixer were all still where she had left them. She didn't have wolf senses and she didn't care about the scents; this place was home. "I missed this house."

"You left all your stuff and half your clothes."

"I planned on coming back."

"Really?"

"And you didn't throw them out."

"No. Or pack them up and take them to you." Leah remembered that she had slept alone in their bed with Paul's old hoodie that Bella had worn for a while. She didn't tell Bella that, it seemed a dampener on their happy day. That was the past. It was all fixed now.

"I talked to Paul and Seth about it. Leaving it all here reminded you of me," Bella added.

"Huh," said Leah. "You sneaky thing." She looked around. "You're right. It drove me mad."

"All part of my cunning plan."

"The hanging pot rack made me nuts before we became a trio. Every time you looked at that thing, I thought that you were thinking about Paul."

"Maybe that was his cunning plan, too?"

"You know… I'll bet that it was. He's a sneaky one."

They got busy cleaning, washing, mopping and scrubbing down. The sun was shining and it streamed in the open windows. Leah heard Paul's truck coming and when he pulled up out the front, they were waiting for him. He got out of the truck and looked at them; he looked at the house and he glanced around taking note of the mattress leaning against the front of the house. "This feels right, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

He walked towards them and stopped just at the edge of the porch, so that he was lower than they were, and held his arms up. They went to arms closed around the girls' waists and they hugged; a group hug. All of them together properly at last. It did feel right.

They stood there for the longest time, as if nobody wanted to move first.

"I need to buy groceries," Bella finally said.

"Why?" Leah asked.

"I want to bake Quil a chocolate mousse cake and I need fourteen eggs."

"The car crash," said Paul. "He threw himself in front of a moving vehicle."

"The battle," said Leah. "He got badly injured."

"The intervention," said Bella. "He spoke his mind and it was awesome."

"He will eat the entire thing by himself," Paul noted.

"Doesn't matter," said Bella. "He deserves it."

"Nah," said Leah, "He'll give a piece to Embry."

"That sounds about right," said Paul.

They all laughed.

* * *

"Why did we bring a bed when we always end up having sex on the floor?" Leah asked Paul as they manhandled the bed inside the house.

He just laughed. "Options," he answered with a cheeky grin.

They both glanced at Bella. She was wearing an apron and happily humming to herself as she slid two cakes into the oven.

"How long to cook?" Paul asked.

"Thirty minutes."

He raised his eyebrows at Leah.

She pointed wordlessly at the mattress they were holding.

He pointed at the couch.

"She's busy," Leah said.

"She never says 'no'."

"Really?" Leah frowned as she thought about it. "Huh."

They leaned the mattress against the wall. Paul went over to Bella. She was washing up the mixing bowl. She handed him a beater to lick. Leah got the other one.

"Why don't you refuse sex?" Paul asked her, as he licked the chocolate cake mixture off and dropped the beater into the sink.

"I don't know," she said. "I mean it's important to do it if you want to. I like being close to you both and we can't get much closer than that. It makes you happy and even if I am not in the mood at the start, I soon will be with the way you two look after me. You know, with the foreplay."

"That makes sense," said Leah.

"Were you always like that with women and foreplay? Is that why they liked you?" Trust Bella to have no issues with asking Paul something others shied away from.

"Kind of," he confessed. "I think foreplay is the wrong name. It makes it sound as if it is unimportant; you know, not the main meal. As if you could skip it if you wanted. I don't think you can; I think it's more important."

She chuckled. "So actual intercourse ought to be called dessert, then."

"Yeah. Eat all your veggies and you can have your dessert." He did the double eyebrow raise.

Leah laughed.

"And," Paul added, "I have to admit, after Leah fucked me, I have a greater appreciation for proper preparation. She could really have hurt me if she had just barged in there. Made me think about how some girls get it." He shrugged. "But she didn't hurt me; she took her time and prepared me properly." He leaned over towards Leah and she met him halfway. They kissed. "And we both had a great time," he added.

Bella suspected that Leah had cared about Paul; more than she would admit and that far back.

Paul tugged on her apron strings. She glanced up at him. "Now?"

"Please."

"You're in the middle," said Leah.

She held her hands out to him. They were wet from the dish washing. He dried them with her apron. She watched him do it. She loved his hands. She loved watching how gentle they could be and yet, they were so unbelievably strong. She stroked over the vein on the back of his hand, following it with her fingertip as it knotted over the tendons to his wrist and up his arm.

Leah closed in behind her and she leaned back against her.

They were both so strong. They could tear her apart between them. But their strength was always turned out-wards to defend and protect her. And for that she was more than thankful. She inhaled. "I can smell you," she muttered.

"Moving is sweaty work," said Leah.

Bella lifted Paul's hand to her face and licked that vein on the back of his hand.

"J-Jesus," Paul muttered.

She did it again. This time she watched his face. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

Leah's hands dipped into the back of Bella's skirt, undid it and pushed it down to the floor. Bella felt Leah's face press against her lower back in a kiss that traveled down to her ass.

Paul dragged his hand out of hers and reached for the hem of her shirt. He lifted it and pulled it over her head. She shook her hair loose. Now all she was wearing was a bra and panties.

Her wolves closed in on her.

She tried to turn her body so that she could see them both. They lifted her and scooted her away from the hot oven. A tiny gesture that showed so much care.

She grabbed at the front of Leah's shirt. "Too many clothes," she muttered.

"Yes," Leah agreed. She started stripping while Paul held Bella's face and kissed her. Bella took her own bra off.

"We need to work on blow jobs," he told her seriously, as he pushed her panties down.

She chuckled. "I thought you had the best tongue."

"For you, maybe, but Leah is brilliant."

"I know. Lucky me."

Paul laughed.

Leah was naked by then and her arms closed around Bella. "Come here, Baby," she whispered to her. One hand cupped a breast and the other slid south and cupped Bella's mound to pull her back against Leah.

Paul looked at them and made a throaty sound. "Damn…"

Leah lifted her and hauled her back towards the sofa. Paul followed; stripping his own clothes as he went. He stood naked in front of them and watched.

Leah fell back onto the sofa, holding Bella's arms back and she wrapped her legs around Bella's hips. She rubbed herself against Bella's back; she could feel how wet she was. But then she tucked her feet inside Bella's thighs and slid out; she just opened her out. She displayed Bella for Paul and held her at the same time.

He stood there and absentmindedly reached a hand down to stroke his cock. He grinned at Leah past Bella's shoulder.

"For me?" he asked.

His hand reached forward and stroked through Bella's folds. She inhaled. She was already wet, she knew it. She moaned, and shifted her hips onto his hand as much as she could with the way that Leah held her. He withdrew his fingers. Bella could see how wet they were. His hand moved towards her face, but then skated past her cheek and she heard Leah suck her wetness from Paul's fingers.

Bella moaned. "Please," she begged.

"You want a kiss?" he asked Bella, as he knelt before her.

"Yesss."

He lowered his face down and he kissed her; but he kissed her between her legs.

She uttered a loud groan. His mouth was working at her but his hand had burrowed under her ass. And then she realized, he was licking at her but his hand was buried inside Leah. She tried to move, but Leah held her firmly.

"Shhh," Leah whispered at her neck, before moving up to nibble at Bella's ear. Bella jolted between them as she orgasmed.

Paul lifted his head and grasped his cock firmly in his hand. He rubbed the head down her damp folds.

She moaned. She was sensitive now. "Fuck me, Paul," she begged.

"Flip her," Paul said.

Leah let her go and the two of them just manhandled her. She found herself on her knees with Paul behind her and Leah's spread legs in front of her face.

"My earthy Leah," Bella said before she buried her mouth in Leah. She loved the taste of Leah. One of her freed hands slid up Leah's body to tease her nipple. The other sank to knuckle depth inside Leah's sodden channel.

Paul sank into her from behind, one hand holding Bella's hair as he thrust into her and the other interlinked with Leah's fingers. When Leah came she grabbed at his hand.

In a moment of perfect timing the cake timer went off, just as they all finished.

Bella put the apron back on to rescue the cakes. She put them on cake coolers and when she glanced across to the sofa Leah was lying down with Paul behind her. His arm was around her waist and his head supported on his elbow. They both smiled at her.

She beamed back at them as she stripped off her oven mitts and went back to join them.

"We really have to get the bed bolted together," Leah said.


	80. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Bella was making the chocolate mousse part of Quil's cake. Paul was hanging over her shoulder. He dipped a finger in the bowl.

"Stop that!"

"Do we get cake, too?"

"Every day if you want it. Now make yourself useful and cut the cake into layers."

Leah's phone rang. It was Jake organizing a meeting at his garage.

"Now?" Paul asked.

"Yep. Bet I know what that is about," Leah said.

"The alpha thing?" Bella checked.

"Probably."

"Sorry, munchkin. Gotta go." Paul kissed her.

"Me too, baby," said Leah, planting another kiss on Bella.

"I'll be here."

Leah smiled at her. "Yeah."

She watched them leave.

When the mousse was finished, she layered it between the cake pieces and then spread the rest over it like icing. She shaved some chocolate on the top with the vegetable peeler.

"Hmmm. Looks professional."

But then she realized she couldn't deliver it to Quil.

Embry.

She phoned him.

"Hey, Bells," he answered.

"Is Quil better?"

"Almost healed and dying of boredom. We are playing cards, but he is cheating shamelessly."

"I made him a cake …to say thank you." She heard an exclamation in the background; it sounded like woo-hoo. "But I can't drive over and hold it, to give it to him. And if it stays here-"

"Paul and Leah will eat it. I will run over and fetch it."

"You should make him give you a piece."

"I'll charge a toll."

"He's really okay?"

"Yeah. Here."

Embry must have handed the phone to Quil.

"A cake? For me?" she heard Quil ask.

"Yes. To say thank you. You were brilliant."

"Thanks, Bells. You were pretty badass yourself."

"I was so worried that someone would get hurt or worse."

"Nah… Bella. We are super awesome werewolves."

"I know that."

"We are glad to have you around to attract all these things we get to hunt."

"Thanks Quil… I think." She chuckled.

"Embry left already."

"Make sure you share, Quil."

"Sure, sure, Bells"

* * *

The pack's four senior wolves met in Jake's garage. Leah sat up on the bench with Paul standing next to her; his hand flat on her thigh. Sam threw himself onto an old car seat and Jake sat down on a metal tool box.

Jake started, "This is the way I see it. The alpha pair are un-collared at the moment. You've got all the power and no responsibility - no handbrake. I think that's why you can run off and fuck and be irresponsible."

"Throwing the pack out was bloody dangerous," Paul said. "We get that now. You were right to tell us off."

"You didn't know where they were or what they were in the middle of doing," said Sam.

"We know that. And we will have to crawl to Bella for a while to make it up to her," Leah said.

Jake snorted. "No you won't. She loves you."

"She suggested that the whole pack communication method was flawed." Leah looked at the others. "We are just too reliant on the pack mind. We saw how brilliantly it worked in battle, but so far as being able to talk to others? It just doesn't work."

"True," said Sam. "It's shitty enough trying to light vampires on fire in one of the wettest States, but to use a phone, we have to phase back, find the phone, call whoever and calm down enough to talk. Embry said his hands were shaking so much he could barely dial Brady after the battle."

"So we need a pack communicator?" Jake asked.

"Yeah someone we can call and who can get stuff done," said Sam.

Paul and Leah exchanged a look.

"We can think about that, later,"Jake said. "Look guys, I don't think it is a surprise to anyone, but I don't want the alpha job. I can almost hear generations of my ancestors screaming at me… but I just don't want it." He looked guilty and a little nervous; sitting forward with his hands together and his arms resting on his thighs. "I feel trapped enough being a wolf and being the chief in-waiting, without having that, too. I know it's selfish given what everyone else has to do, but I want to go to college. I want to have some small taste of life before I come back here and take on that responsibility."

Everyone could hear echos of his girlfriend Lily in that statement. Jake really liked her, they all knew that.

"The tribe needs an educated leader, Jake," Sam said. "No one will deny you that. And life experience is important, too. It's hard to lead well without it."

"Except the twins," Leah suggested quietly. "They will have a fit."

Jake snorted. "Yeah, well they weren't here to nurse Dad and they haven't been home for years. I don't regret doing it, but its a shitty responsible life being a teen with an invalid parent. They both virtually bailed as soon as they could after Mom died."

"No late nights, no spontaneity, no staying out for days," Paul suggested.

"Yeah. Got to be there every morning and every night to help him out of bed and make sure he takes his medication. It doesn't allow for any skiiving off. And it's not as if he can get around real well without me once his legs went."

"Right," said Leah, "So, it's your reward. You earned it."

"The Alpha is a thankless job, too," Sam muttered.

"Sure, Sam you know that… you've done brilliantly given you always knew it was temporary."

"Thanks, Jake. I appreciate that."

Paul said, "Sam gives me the best advice, when I am smart enough to take it. Remember you pointed out to me that I was in love with both girls?"

"I remember. You just haven't been asking my advice lately."

"Good point - but man, we have been through some shit in the last week."

Sam looked at Jake. "You'll always be part of the pack. We can't take that away from you."

"No, and once we change, I don't think we can give that up, either. At least, nobody has ever tried."

Sam and Jake both studied the alpha pair. Oddly, they were sitting with their heads higher than the Sam and Jake, as if the decision had already been made.

Sam sighed. "So if we give you two the alpha role, can you behave?"

"Yeah… about that…" Paul told the two senior pack members about Jasper's theory of vampire venom overdose.

"Bella worked it out with him," Leah said.

"Shit. You're right!" said Jake. "I didn't call her, either. My best friend."

"It was all pretty intense," Paul said. "Hopefully we've all learned from the experience."

"Sure, sure. That we need better news distribution, too. Was that Bella's idea as well?"

Paul nodded. "Yep."

Sam shook his head. "That girl is so smart and good with weird."

"It's another reason to get rid of leeches," Leah said darkly. "If even the air we breathe is tainted by them."

"Huh. I always wondered why Edward had such an influence on Bella," said Jake. "Speaking of tainting us, are any kids close to phasing? There might be some after having them in the area."

"We can't tell yet. But we will keep an eye on them. The council is going to argue for Paul's wolf cub group idea, so we will push for that as well," Leah said.

"Good. We can all watch the likely suspects. We know who they are from the family trees," Sam said.

"The council won't want us for alpha," Leah said. "We can't lead to save ourselves."

"That's not true," Sam said. "I saw you two on the battlefield. I just think you need a collar, like Jake said."

"Don't mention collars," Paul muttered.

Sam and Paul both laughed.

"I heard about that. Can we see the photo?" Sam asked.

"No. I tore it up."

"You guys were great on the field." Jake stood up and stretched. "So, what other neat wolf tricks do you two have ?"

"We don't know yet -" Leah started.

"You can sense evil," said Paul. "How else do you explain the way you knew that golden eyed vampire at the gas station was bad?"

"Paul's pretty good at strategy," Jake added.

"But we did get majorly distracted," Paul said. "We promised Bella that won't happen again like that, too."

Sam shrugged. "We all did, when we could."

Leah nodded. "That's what Bella said, too. That we had more options than just one. She said our relationship is a five-way."

"Always knew that girl was a freak." Jake chuckled.

"Sue knows we fucked up; she might vote against us," Paul suggested.

"The tribal council will know then, although she might not have used the actual words," Sam suggested.

"I heard Bella told Sue off, too," Sam said.

Leah glowed. "She said she was mean to 'my Leah'."

Jake studied them. "It works for you guys, doesn't it?"

"You told Jared, Bella was top dog in your house," Sam said, "After the intervention. I half didn't believe it at the time."

"She is. If Leah and I both defer to her, then we don't butt heads over anything." He shrugged. "It works for us."

"And it gives us a break from pack business, you know?" Leah said.

"And she doesn't feel like the weak link in the trio," Paul added.

"Back to the alpha thing, the pack should choose; it's pack business, not council business," Jake said.

Paul waved a hand. "But that's exactly it! Sometimes they are different. The pack can't always go through the council. Imagine how badly we'd be off now if they had refused Jasper permission to enter the tribal lands? If they hadn't understood how bad the situation was."

"We would not have got through that battle without him," Sam agreed. "And if we had still used his help, we would have had to train off the tribal lands and that would have left the tribe and people more exposed to attack."

Jake snorted. "Old Quil can't even talk quickly anymore, let alone make a snap decision. Dad whines about how slow he is, all the time."

"I don't think Jake can do both roles," Leah said. "He can't be chief and pack leader. Not that he can't, but that he _shouldn't_. It's too much power now; you could be a dictator. These days, its almost a conflict of interest. Maybe not in the olden days when the tribal chief fought in the wars and led the pack. But now you're mostly fighting government committees."

"That's why you need a degree, not a claw," said Paul.

"And the pack needs a rep on the council," Jake added. "I mean, they just can't see things from the pack point of view. And the council needs to have some non pack - sometimes the community will need things that the pack can't see the need for or don't value... yeah it's a conflict of interests."

"I attend sometimes, but I'm not actually on the council," Sam said. "Can I say my piece?"

"Sure, Sam," said Jake.

"I don't want the alpha job any more. So if Jake doesn't want it and you guys do, it's yours. I'll still be a wolf; I love that and it's a hard thing to give up all that speed and power and bonus side effects. But I'm tired of being a temporary alpha; I don't want the responsibility anymore."

Leah nodded. "And we need the responsibility."

"And our focus now is La Push because Bella is here. Right?" he checked with Leah.

She nodded.

"I think you two can make good decisions," Sam said. "You aren't stupid and Leah seems to know when pack members need help."

"What did Collin call her?" Jake asked.

"The heart of the pack," Paul supplied.

Leah frowned

"He didn't mean it in a squishy girlie way."

"I will not be the pink wolf," Leah growled.

"And anyone who suggested that to you would find that out the hard way… remember Brady?" Paul said. "He meant the way the pack was lost without you."

"Is this because of Nathan, Sam?" Leah asked.

"I've been thinking like this for a while, but I knew Jake wasn't ready. I need to put some more work into the business and make sure that my family is financially secure. Its partly Nathan and partly because Emily's scent has changed. I noticed it this morning." He looked pleased and proud. "I reckon that one might be a battle baby. She doesn't know yet; no telling."

They all offered congratulations and promised to keep mum.

"If it's a girl you could call her Victoria."

"Not funny, Paul."

Paul sniffed obviously at Leah and she whacked him across the chest.

"So who replaces old Quil when he dies?" Leah asked Jake.

"Probably our Quil."

"And you'd replace Sue?" Paul asked.

Jake spoke, "Or there would be an election. Sue kind of slotted into Harry's position on an ad-hoc basis."

"Wow - he's got the jargon down pat, already," Paul joked.

Jake punched him in the shoulder. "There should have been an election, so the pack might have some reps on the council in the future. I could see both points of view."

"The pack could take over the council; we should all live longer, barring any more vampire battles," Sam said.

"We'll be like a three headed beast," Paul said. "Leah the heart... Paul the strategist and Jake the compassionate, caring figurehead to the rest of the tribe and with Sam as an advisor."

"Yeah, to balance out Paul Lahote, the degenerate and trouble maker," Jake joked.

Paul barked out a laugh. "Not anymore." He kissed Leah. "I'm a new man, with my girls."

"So how do we do this?" Jake asked.

"Let Jake and me phase and see how it goes. We'll call when you two can phase in," Sam suggested.

* * *

_Jake?_

_Yeah, Sam._

Sam picked up an echo of Jake's thoughts about Leah, Paul and Bella.

_Sam: I've been thinking about what you said._

_Jake: Which bit?_

_Sam: Way back when we had that emergency meeting and sent Seth to find Paul. You said something about Leah being older than the rest of the pack, she carried all three wolf genes and she would fight you for the alpha position if she completely embraced her wolf._

_Jake: And that seems to have happened. I might be able to fight her for it… if I wanted it._

_Sam: Are you sure about this?_

_Jake: Yes._

_Sam: What about if Paul fought with her?_

_Jake: Jesus. No, they'd tear me to shreds. Actually, if you __**and **__I tried to fight those two, I reckon we'd lose. Did you see them at the battle?_

_Sam: That's what made me think about it._

_Jake: They know where to be to support each other._

_Sam: And he stops that reckless edge that Leah had. She used to rush in when she was out of her depth. I was always worried that someone would get badly hurt trying to rescue her._

_Jake: He has made her a better wolf._

_Sam: Now that is a scary thought. And Paul was our best fighter before._

_Jake: As a bonded pair, they can run the pack well._

_Sam: So we let them do it?_

_Jake: Yes._

_Sam: Okay._

Jake's wolf yipped.

They felt Paul and Leah phase in.

_Leah: Done?_

_Paul: Okay?_

_Sam: Just checking with our wolves. So what did that photo look like, Paul?_

_Paul and Leah couldn't help it. The image of Paul as a pet wolf with a collar and leash, held by Alice Cullen, moved to the front of their minds._

_Jake: Oh, you're so tiny._

_Paul: That was what Bella said._

_Sam: It doesn't explain everything that happened._

_Leah: Yeah, the Deputy knew that. He kind of knows there is something out there. She showed them Deputy Mark and Charlie's conversation about the hiker deaths._

_Jake: Let's do this._

_Paul: Will it work without fighting?_

_Sam: I hope so._

_Leah: What if we do normal wolf controlling behavior?_

The black and the russet wolf stood in front of the two gray wolves and then they lowered their heads and put their muzzle down on the ground. Paul and Leah lifted a paw and put it on top of their heads, pushing down a little.

_We bow to you as pack alphas, _Jake and Sam chorused..

It felt like an actual weight; they could feel it settle around their shoulders.

_Paul: Whoa._

_Leah: Okay… I get it now._

They let them up.

_Sam: Good. That worked. We can do something else for the pack, but I didn't want to look like dicks in front of them if it didn't pass to you._

_Leah: We can just tell them, they're our pack… our pack…_

_Paul: Listen to you…but I get it, they are. That is awesome._

_Jake: You don't need to tell them, they will just __**know**__._


	81. Chapter 81

**Chapter 81**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Seth brought Alice and Jasper over to say goodbye. They needed a wolf escort and Seth had never been leery of the Cullens. He gave Bella a massive hug. He bounded around the house and babbled on about how cool it was that they were all living together and all the stuff they would need to change, and how epic it was that they were the alphas now. And how much they all owed him for it because he found Paul. All at his usual chatty pace.

Alice said, "I just saw Charlie in the hospital. We couldn't stay long; the contacts dissolve in my eyes. I think he is heading home today. No infection."

"Great. I will call him later," Bella said.

"He thanked me… for… you know…" Alice looked as if she wanted to ask Bella a question, but didn't know how.

"Edward did it, Alice. I knew you could. And I am sorry I hit you with a chair."

"You had to. I have to tell Edward about all of this."

"I know. He's your brother and you shouldn't keep secrets from him."

"Not that we can, anyway."

"Just tell him… I'm happy." She paused. "And tell him that I understand that when he dumped me, he lied. I believe that he left me because he loved me and wanted me to live."

Alice's face cleared. "Yes," she said.

"Can you stay another night?" Bella asked.

"Of course. Why?"

"Kim needs some help with makeup and clothing. I thought we girls could go shopping."

Alice uttered a squeal and bounced in place.

"Girls?" Leah asked tentatively.

"You're coming, too. I told Kim you are really good with braiding hair."

"You did?" Leah stared at her. "This is my punishment, isn't it?"

"No… don't be silly," Bella lied.

Alice had skipped outside to ask Jasper.

"Oh, my God," Leah whined. "If you had given me the option I might have preferred to swap with Paul."

Alice came back with a framed photograph in her hand. "Oh, I almost forgot. This was in the car." It was the shot of Paul as a wolf pet.

"Brilliant. Put it on the mantelpiece with the others, please."

Paul's photo frames from his house had been carefully shifted over and set up in their new home. Alice's frame was still timber, but a little more polished and finished than the others. Alice looked at the framed shot of Paul with his parents.

"That's Paul with his mother and father when he was little," Bella explained.

"And you two, here."

Leah was watching Alice closely. "Yes."

Alice was very careful not to touch the other pictures as if she was aware that her scent would stain them. "You have a family."

"Yes," Bella said. "I was thinking about that the other day; a furry one."

"I can't see it… but I am sure it will happen." She looked up at Bella. "A real family of your own."

"I hope so." Bella hugged Leah and leaned against her. Leah kissed her forehead.

"Rose would love that. You were right about the visions, too."

Bella looked confused.

"I froze in Charlie's kitchen, because I couldn't see the end result in a vision. I've become so reliant upon looking into the future, that I had forgotten that I can change the present."

"We've already made some big changes. You're standing on tribal land," Bella pointed out.

* * *

Paul and Jasper were standing on the porch looking out at the sea. Paul asked Jasper something that he had been mulling over. "Why didn't you offer any of the attacking vampires their life? Let them choose to become like the Cullens?"

"They chose to fight. They weren't innocent newborns who didn't know about other options. They were old enough to make their own decisions and to suffer the consequences of those decisions."

"Yeah - that's why we killed Fred; rather than let him go. Couldn't trust him to keep his mouth shut, either."

"He was a willing accomplice to the planned attacks on Bella."

"And the murders in Seattle. The people they fed on."

"Yes."

"Bella had a fit about it."

Jasper smiled. "She would. She sees the good in everyone."

"Yeah. Even vampires that are planning to kill her. Thanks for helping us out Jasper."

"Heck, I had a grand time." He studied Paul. "So … what happened with the pack leadership?"

"What do you mean?"

"I could feel Jake's emotion during the battle; a mixture of guilt and regret. He didn't want to lead."

"No. He gave it to me and Leah."

"It'll work."

"I sure hope so."

"If you ever get another big fight… give me a call," Jasper offered.

"You did enjoy yourself."

They grinned at each other.

"Darlin'?" Jasper called. "Time to go."

Seth came out to say farewell. He had his arm around Leah's shoulder and Paul was standing behind Bella. They all waved goodbye.

"I'm heading off home to have a moment's peace before Mom gets back," Seth said. After hugging everyone, Seth and Paul spoke together for a little while.

Leah stood there and looked around the room. "There's something missing… Oh, that's right. I hid it."

"Hid what?" Bella asked.

Leah didn't answer her but just held up the piece of glass that Paul had given her after the pack intervention.

"Ah," said Bella.

"He thought it was weird."

Bella didn't need to know which 'he' Leah meant. "You didn't hide it, you saved it."

"Maybe. He might have tossed it out."

"It was a bit one sided."

Leah frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"Not the gifts themselves, but the fact that they were all your gifts to me. I didn't contribute anything."

Leah looked relieved. "You did. You found that hand blown bowl at the market in Port Angeles. You remember that trip? And you kept them all. That's worth a lot too."

"I suppose." She smiled at Leah. "Well, go find it."

Leah darted out of the room.

Paul came in just as she was leaving. "What's she up to?"

"You'll see."

"Well whatever it is, she's clambering up the top of the wardrobe for it."

"You guys; you hear everything."

"We do." He leaned down for a kiss.

Leah came back carrying something wrapped in a towel. She knelt on the floor next to the coffee table and unwrapped it. Then she lifted it up and placed it in pride of place, right in the center of the table. She shifted some of the items around in the bowl. She beamed at Paul and then added the red glass fragment to the top of the pile of stones and looked up at him for his reaction.

"Shania would love it," he said.

Leah's face fell. "Oh. Shit!" she panicked. "I didn't know that."

"Hey, hey." Paul crouched down near her. He grabbed her hands. "I had forgotten that I hadn't told you where I got it. I saw it just after the ashes scattering-"

"I didn't go," Leah wailed. "I was a coward."

"No, no you weren't. You couldn't have gone that day. It's okay. Bella was there."

"I know… and I wasn't. I let you down."

"Shh. Don't worry about it." He scooped her up and sat on the floor with her on his lap. He held her face with both hands. "Look at me. Do I look upset?"

Sometimes Leah reminded them, in the worst way, that she was still a little damaged from the whole shattered-self experience. She was too quick to blame herself for mistakes. He and Bella knew it would just take more time for her to be completely healed.

She blinked rapidly and looked at him. "No," she conceded.

"There you go."

"O-okay." She cuddled in against his neck. He put his arms around her and rubbed her back.

"You've seen inside my head, you know I'm not upset with you."

"I worry sometimes."

"I saw it on the beach, just as the sun was setting. And it seemed to be all the colors of the sunset captured in one small thing. The sun was going down, and it was as if I had a piece of it, right in my hand. Even though the sun was setting, I knew it would be back the next day; stronger than ever. Just like you."

"Pfft," said Leah. "You made that shit up. Just then."

He laughed. "I did. But it doesn't make it untrue."

"I'm onto you," she said as she poked him in the chest.

"Luckily, Bella falls for all my corny lines."

"I do," Bella agreed. "I love your corny lines."

"What has he tried on you?" Leah asked.

"He called me small and shapely once."

"Nice," said Leah. "And true."

"See?" Paul argued. He reached over and touched the stone. "It looks good there. I'm glad it made the grade."

Leah shifted on his lap. She had her arms around his neck, now. "It's beautiful. And I will never forget how you came to give it to me."

"Neither will I. But if you ever want to see the ashes ceremony, just ask one day when we are phased, and I will share that memory with you."

"And then it will be like I was there?"

"Yeah."

"Niki sang," Bella said. "He was good, too."

Paul and Leah both got that alert look as they listened to something only they could hear.

"Speaking of," Paul said.

"Who?" Bella asked.

"That's Niki's truck." Leah listened. "He's coming here. How does he know you're here?"

"He called me, ages ago, at Newtons," said Bella. "Don't tell me you forgot to tell all your news to your own father."

Paul looked guilty.

"Well, that is going to change. Family is important," Bella said.

"We're not good on the family things," Paul argued. "And he didn't have his phone, in case the pack tried to drag me back, so I couldn't call him."

"Seth found you anyway," Leah said.

"Wait a second… How did he call you?" Paul asked.

"He'd use public phone booths or a phone in a bar. I gave him my cell number after the first calls. I think Charlie gave him Newtons' number first."

"And you never mentioned this?"

"Nope."

"We were fighting vampires days ago," Leah said. "How did you know it was all going to work out?"

"It just had to. And besides you two are unstoppable when you want something done."

Paul chuckled. "The only negative is Charlie in hospital."

"He'll be okay." Bella headed towards the kitchen.

"And Mom barely leaves his side. He'll be fine," Leah added.

"Do you think Niki will stay for dinner?" Bella asked as she looked in the fridge speculatively.

"I'd bet on it," Paul said. "Come on, Leah. Let's go be the welcoming party." He stood easily, carrying her and kissing her as he walked to the door.

Leah laughed.

Bella watched them and smiled. She hadn't known it would all work out, but they were pretty formidable. She was glad Niki had rung recently; if something had happened to Paul and he hadn't been here, he would never have forgiven himself.

She could hear the truck, now. She put on the kettle for him. He would probably want a cup of coffee. She listened and heard the deep voice of Paul greeting his father.

"Niki!" Bella bounced outside to hug him and plant a big kiss on him.

Paul's eyes narrowed. "They've been chatting longer than a quick call about me, you know," he whispered to Leah at wolf volume.

"Mmm. You could be right."

"She thinks we're unstoppable. Fuck's sake. She's hard to stop when she wants something, too."

"Just as well she wanted me back," said Leah, as she watched Bella and Niki chat.

"She did. She was determined to get you back."

"Stop whispering, you two," Bella said.

Leah tossed her hair and laughed. She kissed Niki chastely on the cheek.

"You tell them," said Niki. "Wow. Look at you all. You look great, Leah."

"Come in. The kettle is on. You're staying for dinner." Bella pushed at him. He stopped in front of Paul. They looked seriously at each other.

"You did it," Niki said.

"Wait until you hear the whole story."

"Proud of you," Niki said. They hugged awkwardly and thumped each other manfully.

"Come in," Paul said. "I moved in here. You are on your own in the house now, old man."

"Cool."

Paul studied his father as he drank his coffee. "So you rang Bella, huh?"

"You came back for her. And you know I would have come back as fast as I could if I hadn't known everything was working out. I called Forks police first. I thought Charlie might know what was happening with Bella. Did a 411 free call once I crossed the border."

"Right," said Paul. "Sneaky Charlie didn't tell me that either."

"He filled me in. Said you had been there and you two had a plan. He gave me Newtons' number and I called Bella there."

"Took a while to get home."

"Dropped in on some old friends and had a vacation." Niki grinned at his son. "Don't tell me you missed me?"

Paul mumbled something and Niki laughed.

* * *

Later that night Bella was in the shower. Paul and Leah were chatting in bed.

"Niki looks good," Leah said.

"Yeah… he needed a vacation, maybe."

"Things have changed, after the funeral?"

He sighed. "He was still so hung up on a relationship that was wrong."

"It wasn't wrong… he loved her."

"Still did, I think. Maybe still does."

"You have to get him to date."

Paul laughed "Date?"

"There are some single women around."

"What like your mom?"

"No. She's with Charlie."

"Fine, or Quil's mom or Embry's or Sam's."

"Ewww."

"Yep. That's what I reckon too."

"Shit. There must be some single girl we can introduce him to."

"Leave him alone. He can get his own girl."

"Says you."

"Yeah… if he kisses one of mine again, I'll growl at him."

Leah grinned at him. "Yeah… you will."

* * *

**[AN: my original story plan had Paul coming back for Bella, healing Leah and fighting vampires in the period of about a week. As long as it would take Niki to drive back alone from Eastern Canada. But then I changed it and forgot about Niki. A few of you asked about him recently. My bad. This is why I should not post as I write. lol]**


	82. Chapter 82

**Chapter 82**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah showed up at the pack meeting the next night with immaculately manicured nails.

"How are you gonna pump gas with those?" Quil asked.

The rest of the pack looked as if they wanted to laugh but were not game.

"I went clothes shopping with a _vampire_," she explained. "A tiny, annoying one with a black amex card." She shuddered. "Ugh… she was so over the top about… clothes." Leah said clothes as if it was genital warts.

Seth stifled a grin.

"Kim had the best time," Jared said. "She came home with amazing stuff; clothes, shoes and makeup. We had to air it, but Alice was really generous." He paused, "And Kim thinks she looks prettier." He shrugged. "I don't see it." Of course he didn't; his imprint was already gorgeous to him, but it was what Kim thought of herself that really mattered.

Leah smiled at him. "Bella and I didn't want anything, so Kim lapped it up."

"Oh, I don't know," said Paul, "Those shoes were nice. Bella looks good in those."

Sam cleared his throat. "Pack meeting," he reminded them. "I want to thank you for fighting your hardest at the battle. We were lucky to all get through it. Some of us will bear the scars—"

"Yeah," interrupted Quil, "Check it." He displayed his scarred shoulder and arm.

Sam just sighed. Jake shook his head.

Paul glared at Quil.

"I got cake," said Quil.

"I know," Paul growled.

Sam tried again, "We are here to formalize a handover—"

"Oh, we felt that," said Collin.

Leah frowned at him and he fell silent.

"A handover," Sam repeated, "from myself and Jake to the new pack alphas; Paul and Leah."

Embry glanced at Jake.

"It's okay." Jake pre-empted.

"Jake? You're sure?" Embry looked concerned for his friend.

"I want the choice and this allows me to refuse it."

Embry nodded. "All right, then."

"So it's kind of done?" Brady asked.

"Yes," Sam answered. "Jake and I will still phase. Has anyone noticed odd behavior or high temperatures among any of the kids?"

They all shook their heads but promised to keep an eye out.

"Keep two," said Sam.

Sam seemed to suddenly become aware that he shouldn't be talking. He took a step backwards and waved a hand at Paul and Leah. "Your alphas," he said.

"Thanks Sam," they chorused.

"Okay, I will talk at meetings and Paul can talk in your heads," Leah announced.

Quil opened his mouth to speak.

She put her hand out in an abrupt cutting gesture. "Interrupt me and I will open those scars, Quil."

His mouth snapped shut.

Paul didn't look surprised, but some of the younger pack members shifted nervously.

Seth grinned.

"Three wolf pack genes," Jake said to Sam quietly.

"Yeah."

Leah and Paul had clearly put some thought into the pack. They outlined some new patrol procedures. They talked about the need for a new pack communicator and that Bella had agreed to do it if everyone was amenable. They all were. After a bit of discussion and a few suggestions, they let them all go home.

"Brady," said Paul, as he pointed at the ground in front of them.

Brady approached them with trepidation.

He stood in front of Paul and Leah. His head hung low. His whole body was hunched as if he was waiting for the first blow.

"What happened at Charlie's place, Brady?" Leah asked.

"Alice and I had been sparring. She was teaching me about bodily weak points. So she said 'knee' and I knew she meant for me to break the bloodsucker's knee. I did, at the right opportunity and we took out Victoria… Alice tore her head off while I held her body and then I had to deal with the parts. Alice was with Bella. I didn't know Charlie got bit… I didn't know. But I dragged Victoria into the yard to burn her. I was collecting kindling and I heard Bella and Alice but…" he bit his lip.

"Go on," Paul said.

Brady lifted his head. He looked just the tiniest bit mutinous, as if what he was going to say could get him into trouble, but he was going to say it anyway. "She's a vampire and she'd just reattach her limbs and go on and kill other people… maybe even kill Bella and I had to make a choice and I stood there and it was so fucking hard, but I chose not to go and help Bella and I could hear Charlie screaming and that is the worst thing I have ever heard and I never want to hear that again so I stood there and I burnt her. And then I had to run because the cops had arrived." He finished in a rush and then took a breath before he remembered to add, "And I'm sorry."

Paul and Leah exchanged a look.

"Man," said Paul, "We have some kickass baby wolves. Jesus, one dived inside a crashed car and held a vampire by the hair and this one," he waved a hand at Brady who was looking astonished. "This one helps take out Victoria! Fucking Victoria who is so old she dates from, what the 1580's or something? And she can escape anything. Except you." He punched Brady in the chest hard enough to make him whuff out a breath.

"And then you had to make the hardest moral decision of your life," Leah said. "You chose right, Brady. You might have attacked Alice for feeding on Charlie when she was really saving his life." She hugged him.

Brady let out a startled squeak noise. "I did good?" he asked.

"Yep." Paul thumped him in the shoulder.

"We fucked up, too, Brady," Leah said. "We threw the pack human and left you defenseless. We need to apologize to you for that."

"Oh, that's okay. You're the alpha pair."

"Yeah, but we weren't thinking like it," Leah said.

Paul nodded. "We have to make crappy decisions like you had to, all the time; but people safety comes first. And Charlie is okay. It will just take some time for us all to get sorted." He leaned down towards Brady's face. "Next time just light the hair or a venom leak. You don't need kindling. That shit is flammable." He whispered it as if it was a trade secret.

Brady straightened up. He puffed himself up. "Thanks, guys." He moved quickly and kissed Leah's cheek before he dashed away.

Leah touched her cheek and smiled after him.

"The little…" Paul growled.

"Did he just grow six inches?" Leah asked.

"Yeah, reckon he might have."

Paul put his arms around Leah. He crouched down and lifted her up; pressing her body against his.

She looked at him knowingly. "What?" she asked.

"Wanna play a game?"

"What kind of game?"

He let her slide down the front of his body and back to her feet.

"Oh," she said. "That kind of game."

"With some extra spice."

"Like?"

"Chasings… you wanna play chasings?"

She laughed.

"Come on," he begged. "The pack are all gone. You can tell that, right?"

"I know." She leaned in and kissed him. She studied him. He was serious. "Huh. Not hide and seek?"

"Nope. I want to see you running."

"Human?"

"Human. We promised Bella, and we are out of the pack mind."

"True."

"Run… and I'll chase you."

"Can't I chase you?" she asked.

"Not today."

She stroked down his chest. "So another day… I can chase you… maybe fuck you?"

"Lube," he reminded her.

"Right."

"You know I will do that again…"

"You told me."

"Fuck, that would get Bella so excited."

Leah shivered at the thought.

Paul noticed. "You could fuck her; you'd be careful."

Leah knew she could now. Before she had been frightened of hurting Bella. She also knew that Bella was stronger than she had thought she was.

"Stop thinking and strip," Paul said.

She started to undress. He watched her; his eyes burning. She gave him an eye fuck. "And you?" She paused. "Hey, can I order you?"

"Dunno."

She was naked now. He still had his cut-offs on. "**Stay**!" It was an alpha order. She turned and ran.

She glanced back quickly. He was frozen to the spot for a second, so it _did_ work. Made sense to her. As an equal pair, she should be able to order him the way he had ordered her during the intervention. She laughed with delight.

He stripped his clothing off, threw it on top of Leah's and listened for a second before plunging into the forest in a different direction to the one she had taken.

He tracked her down. Her scent; that was so familiar and so necessary to him. The small noises she made that were not part of the forest sounds. He chased her and the closer he got to her, the more easily he could hear her thumping heartbeat.

She hid to take a breather. Her heart was beating fast. She strained to hear his soft footfall in the undergrowth.

A twig snapped.

There!

She darted from her hiding place under the ferns and ran. Sure footed and fast she took off; aiming for the slightly more open ground where a tree had fallen recently and taken some others down with it. She was faster than him on more open ground.

She heard him. He was right behind her; silent and deadly. She strained to push that little bit faster.

He ankle tapped her. Just made a grab at her foot. She lost her balance for a millisecond and he was onto her. They rolled across the ground and she ended up on top.

"I win!" she crowed.

He panted as he spoke. "Uh huh. Sure you did." He shifted his hips under her. "I think I won."

He looked completely unconcerned by her being in the dominant position. He stretched his arms along the ground above his head. She leaned forward; her hands sliding up the underside of his arms. She looked as if she was restraining him, but he could escape in a second if he wanted to. She lowered her face to his armpit and licked up the underside of his arm.

He laughed and squirmed a little. "That tickles."

They looked at each other.

He took an obvious sniff. She was so excited.

He pushed up against her hold and she let him go. He put his hands flat on her back and stroked heavily down her back and across her butt cheeks, and down her thighs to grab her. She arched under his touch and made a small humming noise.

He flipped her suddenly so that she was now under him. He put her hands where he wanted them and she let him do it.

Paul had always told Leah that what she needed was dominant sex; something Bella couldn't do for her. She had loved it when he held her down on the floor but been conflicted. She wasn't that woman now. She had an image of teaching Bella to be more dominant. Nah. She wasn't sure that was in Bella's personality. The trio worked with Bella submissive in bed and the boss in the house. But maybe Paul needed this, too?

Now, Paul held Leah down. Her arms, bent at the elbows, were flat on the forest floor above her head. He had one forearm across her throat and pressing on the underside of the top of her arm. He held her wrist in the other hand. That arm wove up under bicep, straight up next to her head and up to her wrists. He held his own wrist in place with his other hand.

She was holding her own wrists in a monkey grip.

She didn't lift her arms. She could barely breathe. She stared into his intense face.

He didn't kiss her.

She could fight him if she wanted. She could hurt him if she wanted. Something shifted inside her; another piece of the Leah puzzle clicked into place. He had been right about this too. Curse him.

"Paul?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know me so well?"

"That's easy." He shifted his body on top of hers and she felt how excited he was. So hard. So hot against her skin.

"You're me," he whispered to her.

"So you know what I need?"

"Yeah."

"You'd better be sure," she threatened.

"I am. And you'd tell me, if it wasn't what you wanted. Now, you would," he added.

She hadn't said anything before when he had fucked her against a tree. He had half frightened her then. But Bella had told her later that all she had to do was say 'no' and Paul would have backed off. "At the tree… I never said stop."

"I know. Or at the bike shop in Tacoma."

"Bella said that… that if I had asked, you would have stopped."

"Did she now? She knows us well."

They stared at each other.

"Are we going to talk or fuck?" Leah asked him.

He pressed his forearm across her throat cutting off her breath. "Both."

"Really?" She knew with confidence that he'd let her go if she asked him to.

"Who's bitch are you?" he asked her.

She chuckled; a low, throaty purr. "Yours," she breathed at him.

"Are you my bitch, Leah?"

"Yes. P-Paul?" she rasped out through her constricted throat.

"Yeah?" he asked her.

"Fuck me."

"Don't tell me what to do," he growled at her. But he fucked her anyway.

She couldn't move. And she just went with it; she relaxed and she felt an amazing sense of peace. Everything was right in her world.

Paul growled at her again as if she was ignoring him.

She just smiled.

He got her attention back.


	83. Chapter 83

**Chapter 83**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Leah walked past the gas station where she worked and around to the back. She had left her lovers sated and lying sleepily in bed together. She knocked on the door of George's double wide.

"Leah." He nodded at her. The TV was on in the background; sports as always. He had on his standard uniform of checked shirt over a white t-shirt and grease stained jeans.

She held up the large bottle of bourbon she had in her hand.

He raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm. What's this in aid of?"

"Bourbon seems to help you deal with the freaky and weird."

"Right." He had drunk a goodly percentage of a whole bottle after watching her tear apart a vampire in his gas station drive. "More freaky and weird?" he checked.

"This last week has been… epic."

"Epic. Huh." He looked half curious half doubtful. "Heard about Charlie being in hospital. That anything to do with your ... pack?"

"Yeah... that kind of epic."

"Right."

"You said you wanted to know." She waited for him to make up his mind.

He gave a grunt and waved her inside.

"The garage might open late tomorrow, eh?" she suggested as she shook the bourbon bottle.

"Boy howdy," he said.

He grabbed two tumblers and they sat down together. George took up his semi-permanent position in his recliner in front of the television.

Leah waited until she had finished the first drink to talk. She held the empty glass in her hand and rolled it; watching the last dribble of liquid roll around. "I don't have to ask permission to tell you secrets anymore."

"Uh, huh."

"Because Paul and I are the new pack leaders." She held her glass out for a refill.

"Makes sense."

"Yeah. It does." She took another swig of the harsh spirit.

"And we all live together now… me and Bella and Paul. Back in our little house."

"Good. Didn't like that Kirrin bloke."

"You were right; he had to go."

"Glad you see it, now."

"Paul and Bella put me back together. They didn't try to change me, they just fixed me."

"You look better for it."

"Yeah."

There was a moment of companionable silence.

"So," she started. "You wanted to know the whole sorry saga of Bella Swan and vampires…"

* * *

Paul was still half asleep, lying flat on his stomach with no pillow. Bella crawled over and lay down on his back. He made a small pleased noise. His head turned to the side her face was facing. She kissed him on the cheek.

"Paul?" she whispered in his ear.

"What?"

"Tell me another fairy story."

"Like the one about the wolf boy?"

"Yes, please."

"I don't have any more stories," he mumbled into the mattress.

"Yes, you do."

He snorted. "What did you have in mind, munchkin?"

"Tell me the story about the time cute ass wolf boy imprinted."

He was silent for a minute. She could feel the tension in his body as it stiffened under hers. She waited.

Eventually, he asked carefully, "What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking thought about it a lot since that day. At the intervention, you knew how to break Leah's imprint."

Silence.

She whispered to him, "I won't tell anyone. I'm good with secrets and I can't show the pack."

"True," he agreed. "By the way, when you say 'I've been thinking' I freeze up. Dangerous words, munchkin."

She chuckled.

He still didn't answer her, so she patted him on the side of his ribs. "Please tell me how you knew? Leah is not here. She can't hear you."

He breathed out heavily. He had to know she wouldn't let this go.

"Okay," he finally said.

She shuffled her body down a little, folded her arms along his shoulders and rested her head on them; settling in for the long haul.

"It was years ago." He spoke haltingly with many rests and breaks. It was hard for him to say this. "I phased third, just after Jared. We hadn't heard about imprinting… shit, we didn't know anything about being a wolf. We just felt our way. Sam imprinted and that was a clusterfuck.

"But it was the Kim thing that really made me hate it. That annoyed the fuck out of me. We've talked about that before and how little Kim meant to Jared before he imprinted on her. I still can't see how she adds anything to Jared even though you have worked hard on being her friend. And the Emily imprint was just rude; rude to Sam, rude to Leah, tore the Clearwater family apart, and made her mom choose sides when she shouldn't have…

"I didn't think Emily was good enough for Sam and it just caused too much of a mess. Damn near killed Emily, too. She's much better now and I think they are happy… fuck, they are having kids and all that shit… but at the time I hated it. So I said it wasn't gonna happen to me. I was determined that it wouldn't happen to me."

Silence.

"And it did," she prompted.

"Yeah."

"What was her name?"

"I dunno. Never asked."

"She wasn't Quileute?"

"No, nor Makah."

"But she was Native American?"

"Yeah. Might have been from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe."

"Where are they?"

"Four miles west of Port Angeles. Just over a hundred people live there. The others are scattered mostly in Oregon."

"Wow. You didn't know her name?"

"I wouldn't let her get near me. But it seemed as if it affected her somehow. I knew when girls got obsessed with me, but she was different; more intense, too manic. It wasn't that she wouldn't leave me alone, but more like that she couldn't, you know? It was real obvious. She kept trying beyond a point that _she_ was comfortable with.

"I finally told her to fuck off and get a life. I was angry; not at her as much as at the imprinting itself. But she copped it. And I just turned on her. I didn't phase, but fuck, I was close; hands shaking, the whole grab bag. She'd heard about Emily being attacked by something. I scared her so badly; she thought I was going to attack her. Maybe she thought it was me? That I had attacked Emily? I dunno."

"Like you did to me," Bella said. "That's why you were so angry with me, that time. When Jake brought me to meet the pack." Paul had phased in front of her, he had lost it so badly.

"It was around that time, yeah. I wasn't angry with you. I never said I was angry with you. I was furious about the deaths of the hikers, that it had happened and that we could do nothing about it. I was angry with Jake for breaking the secret and putting you in danger. I was angry with everyone, then." He took a breath. "It was pretty hard to control. Busting out of your own body…"

They breathed quietly together. Bella stroked his shoulder with one hand.

"Was she a nice girl?" she asked.

"Nice? As in a good girl?"

"Yes."

"Yep. She was. Straight as they come. Poor thing didn't even get why she was trying to get near me, of all people. I really wasn't her type."

"And then you frightened her."

"Yeah."

"So when she got frightened?"

"I could feel it slip; feel it release its hold on me a bit. I can't explain it, but it felt as if her not wanting me made a difference. I couldn't have really hurt her… she was my fucking imprint… a small part of me wanted her and I was real angry with that, too… but I had to make her go away. No way was I putting up with all the shit I already had to deal with and then, on top of that, to not choose a girlfriend for myself? Fuck that shit."

"I haven't ever thought of imprinting like that," Bella whispered to him. She stroked his neck to calm him. "You weren't angry all the time. You came and helped Sam find me when I was lost."

"That was important. And I felt like I was helping, you know? But the rest of the time… when we had nothing to do… I was just angry all the time."

"How did Sam not know about it?"

"He and Jared were so caught up in their sacred imprints… and I learned to keep my head private. They didn't want to see memories of the girls I had been with."

"You rejected your god given imprint," Bella imitated Sam's voice, as well as she could.

He chuckled. "The Gods never gave me anything."

"Did so. You got us."

"I suppose."

Silence.

"What if we ever see her again?" Bella suggested.

"If she saw me first, she'd be running in the opposite direction."

Bella chuckled. "No, really."

"I've done it once. I can do it again. Got more of an incentive now. And I haven't even felt a twinge for so long… I think I really broke it."

Bella asked, "So you thought that anger might work for Leah?"

"I didn't know. But Leah had plenty of anger and that Kirrin dick head wasn't her type. She had to try. Same as me and whatshername. There was zero reason why he was good for Leah. She had to get rid of him; for herself, not just for us. I didn't mean to put you in there, too."

"But I was the key."

"In a way. She was already wavering, but he hit you and that was too much for Leah. She didn't even need to think about the choice. It was you, even over me."

"Yes. She has always looked after me."

"She adores you."

Silence.

Bella pressed her face on Paul's back.

"Paul?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Thanks, Bella." A pause. "I love you, too. And we both love Leah."

"Yes we do."

She went to move off his back.

"No. Stay there. That's nice."

"Okay." She settled back down. She moved her arms so that her hands lay along his ribs and her face pressed into the center of his shoulders. She relaxed completely; her breath gusting across the flesh of his back as she breathed in and out. They both went back to sleep.

* * *

Leah stopped in the doorway and looked at them. She had insisted on walking home. George knew she'd be safe and hadn't tried to talk her out of it.

She almost didn't want to wake them up. Asleep and peaceful; wrapped around each other. She knew crawling into bed would disturb them but she didn't want to sleep anywhere else. She went and got her phone and took a picture of them together so that she would have this moment forever.

They had fought for her. She would try to be worth it.

She had the memory and she had them.

They were hers.


	84. Chapter 84

**Chapter 84**

_Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods._

_Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading._

* * *

Bella and Leah were holding hands. Their arms twined around at the wrist so that the back of their hand faced the other's face. They lay on their sides and stared into each other's eyes. Their faces were inches apart. Paul's thighs were their pillows. Their bodies curled over and embracing his leg underneath them. He was sound asleep leaning back against the headboard.

Nobody wanted to move.

"Love you," Leah mouthed to her lover.

"You too."

"You're unstoppable," Leah whispered to Bella.

"You were worth fighting for."

Leah thought about it. She had made some mistakes. She had fucked up. Let people down. Hated people who didn't deserve it. Let people go that she probably should have clung to. What she hadn't bet on was that that small human girl had fought back. She had formed an alliance with Paul and had taken on wolves and tribal gods to get Leah back.

Leah had been a mess. Her anger at Sam and Emily had poisoned her. Her despair at killing her father, her betrayal by her mother. Her fear for her brother. Anger was good; it was part of the mourning process, but you weren't supposed to hang onto it forever. If you did that, it became a poison.

She had stopped listening to her wolf. She had tried to deny that part of her. She had even locked her up in a cage and refused to let her out. She had made it a thousand times worse.

Bella and Paul had fixed her. Dragged her, kicking and screaming out of her dark places and made her move. Pushed her out into the sunlight so that she could heal.

And now she was a pack alpha; she and her wolf were on the same page. The pack respected her. She had a stable home with two people who adored her.

They had awesome sex. The three of them had a great time together, but she still had Bella to herself occasionally. She had accepted that at other times she and Paul needed to hit it really hard. She was safe and confident enough not to fight him. She loved it. And it made him feel strong and secure.

Now she accepted all her parts: wolf, woman, lover of men, and lover of women.

She was looking forward to their future together.

She had caught some of what Bella had been saying to Paul about the Cullens when they thought she had been asleep. How they were paused on their life path. She thought that she had been paused, as well. And Bella had given her a big kick in the ass and pushed her forward.

She released Bella's hand and reached across and tucked a strand of Bella's hair behind her ear. "Thank you."

It seemed inadequate, but also perfect.

Bella understood; she always did. "Want to have a bath?"

"Oh, yes."

"We'll wake him up when we move."

"I'm awake," he mumbled.

Leah shifted off the bed and went to fill the bath.

Paul didn't glance up when she came back into the room. His hand was stroking through Bella's hair and his eyes were closed. "Bath, huh?" he asked. "Your thing."

"Yes. We'll be back." Leah leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"I know you will." He sounded utterly sure of himself.

She chuckled.

She and Bella fussed over him.

"Lie down," Bella encouraged. "You'll hurt your back sleeping at that weird angle."

Leah pulled up the sheet and tucked it around his waist. "Keep you warm until we get back."

"I do feel cool when I'm alone," he said. He yawned and closed his eyes.

The girls tiptoed away and let him sleep.

They lay together in the bath. Their hands keeping up a constant dialog with the other's skin. Always touching, always stroking. Constant small touches and kisses.

Leah had braided Bella's hair before they got in the tub. She lifted the sodden plait and laid it down Bella's chest. "I love it when your hair dries in the braid; its so wavy."

Bella let out a sigh.

"What?" Leah asked.

"This is where we started. Almost."

"Yes. Paul said that. The bath was our thing."

"Always."

"Always," Leah repeated.

Bella knew she wasn't talking about baths now. "Yes," she whispered. "Always."

They kissed and lay there lost in their own thoughts but together.

* * *

Years have passed.

The pack was having a bonfire slash family day. They were supposed to also be celebrating a construction milestone; the new extension had reached its highest point. It seemed worth celebrating. Bella grumbled that they made any excuse for a party. She was sitting in the yard looking back at their tiny house. It now sported the framework of a new double storey wing. They already had a smaller extension for the library off the other end of the little house.

She joked they could call it the west wing and it was only for the beast. Her beast growled at her and told her to watch it and anyway it was the north wing.

She remembered how excited she had been when her library emerged from the previous construction. They had rarely used it as the timeout room; but it was always there.

Whenever Paul was off buying supplies for the construction business, he would drop into a charity store or a second hand book store. Leah's gifts were different, but Bella got books. He also checked out garage sales, too. He had a great memory for what he had already given Bella and slowly, over time her book shelves filled up. He knew she loved the classics and they were often easier to find. If it was a female serving him, they would engage him in conversation. He still had that attraction for the opposite sex that he had always had. He would explain the books were for his Bella.

In one store, the lady behind the counter said, "I have some boxes out the back that I haven't been through yet, but they are a set. I didn't want to break them up. And not many people want to buy the whole set."

Paul came home with three cardboard boxes of classic literature, bound in hardback with gold lettering and marbled inner linings. Bella squeed so loudly he grumbled that she had hurt his ears. But he grinned. She thanked him thoroughly later that night.

Her scent had changed within days.

She looked at the extension again. They would need the extra room. She patted her stomach. "You're my book baby, aren't you?" she asked the almost invisible bump.

* * *

Sam and Paul were leaning against the wall watching the crowd. Niki and his new girlfriend were talking to Charlie and Sue. All the pack and their imprints were attending. Seth had filled out and had his arm around his recent imprint. They were talking to Leah. Her face lit up at something Seth said and she put her head back and laughed.

"She's looking good," Sam commented. "Really happy. But I noticed she hasn't phased lately, though."

Paul gave a silent shrug. The alpha mind gave them the ability to keep some stuff secret.

"Come on… tell," Sam prompted.

Paul looked at him. "Twins."

Sam spat his beer. "Shit! And Bella is already pregnant. You three don't do anything by halves."

"Nope."

"No twins in Leah's family before."

"We think they are … what's the word?"

"Not identical? Fraternal?"

"Yeah - that's it."

"A litter for the she-wolf."

"Maybe."

"Twins often come early."

"I know."

"We'd better get our ass into gear on this extension then, eh?"

"Yep."

"Worst case scenario they all arrive at the same time."

"With our luck… I'd bet money on it," Paul said.

88888888888

Niki Lahote's phone chirped; a text message. It was from Bella. He frowned at it and then got in his truck. He drove around for a little and then pulled up at the tribal medical center. He couldn't see Paul, but he knew he wouldn't be far. "Paul?" he called out.

He was around the back; he jogged around the side. "Hey, Dad."

Niki looked at him. He was an agitated mess. "Leah's in labor."

"Yeah."

"It's too soon. Six weeks too soon."

"I know."

"And you're here?" Niki asked him.

"Bella is with her."

"That's not enough for her; she has always needed you both." He paused. "And Bella's pregnant." He knew better than to say that Bella had asked for his help.

Silence.

Paul knew he should be inside with her. But he wasn't.

"What's the issue?" Niki asked him.

"It's Leah."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"I-" He stopped.

"Paul… talk to me."

Paul stared at the ground. "She's weak."

Niki thought he got it. Leah had never been weak; not to Paul. "She's usually so strong and so sure of herself … and this—"

"She's in pain," Paul interrupted.

Niki wondered if he could feel it because of the alpha pair bond. "And because she's a wolf, they can't give her any drugs."

"They just will not work on her."

"No." Niki studied his son. "I remember when you were born. I was terrified."

Paul glanced at him.

"Leah is not weak," Niki continued. "She's just under an amazing amount of stress right now. She is probably terrified, too. It is twins and things can go wrong with twins and they are early. I know they are big, but they are early. She can't even hold Bella's hand. She'd be worried that she would crush it and hurt her. And when is Bella's baby due?"

"Three weeks."

"Shit, Paul. This is what dads do."

"But I don't think I can watch—"

"And don't you give me any of that shit about how you are worried you won't be able to fuck her again if you see a baby come out of there, or I will hit you."

Paul looked oddly caught out. "Did that worry you?"

"Truthfully, yes. But your mother was fine. Other women do this every day. Leah will heal faster than they will, too. She won't have an issue with it, don't you make it one."

Paul kicked at the ground.

"Do not miss the greatest moment of your life because you are having a panic attack in the parking lot," Niki said.

"You were there at my birth?"

"Absolutely. I even cried."

Paul snorted.

"I did. Cried like a baby. It was unforgettable. Do not miss it."

Paul took a deep breath.

Niki patted the top of his son's arm. "Come on. I'll go in with you."

"Thanks, Dad." Paul hugged him impulsively.

They went inside together.

Niki caught sight of them in a glass window and wondered how much these babies would look like their father and grandfather.

Bella was being fussed over by a nurse. She was sitting in a chair and had a blood pressure cuff on her arm. "Oh, thank goodness," she said when she saw Paul. "You're here."

"What's wrong?" Paul asked the nurse.

"She needs to rest or lie down," the nurse said. "Her blood pressure is too high." She sounded annoyed with Paul.

Niki gave him a pointed look.

Paul crouched down to talk to her. "Munchkin, you need to look after yourself."

"I want to stay near Leah," Bella protested.

Paul stood and spoke to the nurse, "If she is in the delivery room, I'll make sure she rests."

The nurse was new to the tribal medical center. "Are you the father?"

"Yes. And of Leah's twins, too."

"All of them?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We all live together."

She glanced at Niki.

"I'm the grandfather," he supplied, before she asked.

"Humph… never heard of such a thing," she grumbled, as she walked away.

They all heard Leah cry out.

Paul twitched. Bella went white.

Niki slapped his shoulder. "Get your ass in there. I'll stay with Bella." Niki pushed him in the back when he didn't move.

Paul finally stepped towards the room where he knew Leah was. They all watched him go.

Bella heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Niki. I knew you could get him in here. I'm sorry I had to text you."

"It was a good idea. He just had an attack of first time dad nerves. He was right outside." He looked at Bella. "Do you think that nurse is coming back?"

"I hope not," Bella whispered.

"I saw a wheelchair back in the corridor. I am going to steal it."

* * *

"Paul!" Leah wailed, when he walked in the door.

She did look terrified. Covered in sweat with her hair mussed up and her fists clenched in the bed covers. She was bent over and leaning onto the bed.

He rushed to her. "I'm sorry, I just panicked, freaked out and I didn't know what to do," he babbled.

"You do know—" A contraction clearly gripped her. She moaned in pain.

"We did the course," Paul finished for her.

He rubbed her back. This wasn't about him; he knew that. It was about Leah and their babies. "What do you need?" he asked her. He would do anything she wanted to make amends.

"Stay." She reached a hand out to him.

He helped her stand. She leaned on him. That told him more than anything else, how tired she already was. "We have some babies to get out." He put his palms flat on her enormous stomach. "God, that's tight. I'm sorry, guys. I'm here now," he apologized to the babies.

"Might not be boys," Leah said.

"They are."

"Pfft."

"Bella will be here in a minute. Niki is bringing her."

"I thought I heard his voice."

* * *

Leah produced twin boys, just as Paul had hoped. They all cried. Her labor was fast but painful because of the speed. She swore she was never having another kid.

Paul teased Leah that the big bad werewolf couldn't handle a little pain. She growled at him and told him she'd let him know what pain felt like as soon as she could chase him. Bella argued that it was pain with a purpose if you got such a beautiful babies from it.

"Don't you want a daughter?" Paul asked her.

"Give me time," Leah conceded.

By the time the babies arrived, the waiting room was full of eager grandparents and pack members worried about their alphas.

The pack all sniffed at them to mark their scent. Seth was overjoyed. "Uncle Seth," he kept saying.

Three weeks later, Bella had produced a little girl more slowly and she did it relatively easily. Paul was an expert now and was with her the whole time. The second the baby girl opened her eyes, she had her father wound around her finger; she had Bella's eyes.

Paul was utterly ecstatic. He would often hold all the babies and study them; completely amazed that he had made an entire person. Well, three of them. He looked for differences and similarities. He would put the three of them down on the floor on a comforter, then lie on the floor next to them. The boys didn't take long to grow bigger than the girl. She had her mother's pale skin but slightly darker hair.

He tried to talk to Niki about it one night. They were sitting on the porch drinking beers. A phone rang inside the house.

"Yeah… I never got over that," Niki said. "That sense of wonder. And look at you now, with kids of your own. That really freaks me out."

Paul chuckled. "Hell, I can't think that far ahead."

"And kids seem to be born with their own character; they come out as a person. You know?"

"Yeah."

Niki looked at his son. "You turned out okay. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Paul?" Leah called out as she walked out to them. "That was Jasper. They want to visit to see the babies. Are we good with that?"

The wolf in him wanted to shudder, but human Paul knew that without the help of Alice and Jasper, the babies wouldn't even be here. "I'm good," he said.

"Just as well," Leah said, "Bella already said yes."

They all laughed.

* * *

**~the end~**

* * *

**Author's note**: so another story finished.

Sigh.

I had the worst trouble letting these three go. I wrote four different endings. Some of which would have meant a further 100k words sorting it out. And the more info I gave, the more I had to write. It was enormously hard to just draw a line somewhere. I kept wandering off into territory about how many kids they had, what were their names, what jobs they did, what happened as they got older etc. I know one thing everyone wanted to know was could Leah have kids of her own, so the answer to that is, yes. It is over 200k words, so they have had a pretty good run. And they are happy _**and**_ together.

See! I did put them back together after smashing it all up a couple of times.

I admit that a while ago, I would not have written Paul and Leah together and now I think they go pretty well. They convinced me.

Thanks to all the people who read and reviewed. Please take the time to post a review.

Feel free to follow me on twitter or my blog - the addresses are on my profile page.

I have to work on some original fiction, so I will be quiet for a little while. Check out the stories I have already posted on Smashwords. They are e-books but you don't need an e-reader to read them. You can download them in one of ten different formats; whatever works for you. It's okay to share the free ones with others. Again, the link is on my profile page.

I assume that I will be back. I STILL have to work on the extension of the 'I'll be home for Christmas' one shot. I know I said that last time, but it's still not finished. I have done 30k words on it, so I will finish it. This story pushed ahead of it in the queue. Oh, I could write Niki into that one… hmmm… *thinks*

**MAJOR THANKS** to my betas and brain-stormers who have come up with ideas, suggested strategies and talked me through sticking points.

Feebes and Ruadhsidhe They both write great stories, too. Ruadh writes a great dark fairy Riddick so she's only on fanfic. Thanks, ladies!

thank you everyone,

mrstrentreznor


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